Where does “great-grandpa” come from?

great-grandpa (English) comes from English grandpa, from English PA, from English papa, from Portuguese papá, from French papa, from Middle French papa, from Old French papa, from Latin papa — to scrape, shave, sharpen.

great-grandpa (English): A great-grandfather

Definitions

  1. A great-grandfather

Ancestry of “great-grandpa”, step by step

great-grandpa traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English grandpa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishgrandpagrandfather
2EnglishPAInitialism of public address; Initialism of...
3EnglishpapaDad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned...
4Portuguesepapádad; daddy; father; food
5Frenchpapapapa, a child's father; also as form of address:...
6Middle Frenchpapa
7Old Frenchpapa
8Latinpapaan infant's cry for food; father; bishop
9Ancient Greekπαπᾶςpriest
10Old Norsesúlapillar, column
11Proto-Germanicsūlizbeam, post; column, pillar
12Proto-Indo-Europeanḱsewl-
13Proto-Indo-Europeanḱsew-to scrape, shave, sharpen

via English Great

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishGreatTaking much space; large
2Middle Englishgretegreat; massive; amazing
3Old Englishgrēatgreat, large; big, thick, coarse, massive
4Proto-West Germanicgraut
5Proto-Germanicgrautazcoarse, crude; big, large
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰer-to yearn for; to enclose; bowels, intestines
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱsew-Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱsewl-Every word from Proto-Germanic sūliz