Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “grandmaternal” come from?

grandmaternal (English) comes from English maternal, from Middle English maternal, from Middle French maternel, from Latin māternus, from Latin -nus, from Proto-Italic -nos, from Proto-Indo-European -nós — Creates verbal adjectives from roots.

grandmaternal (English): of or relating to a grandmother

Definitions

  1. of or relating to a grandmother

Ancestry of “grandmaternal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmaternalOf or pertaining to a mother; having the...
2Middle Englishmaternal—
3Middle Frenchmaternelmaternal
4Latinmāternus—
5Latin-nus-an
6Proto-Italic-nos—
7Proto-Indo-European-nósCreates verbal adjectives from roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -nós →