Grand or grande?
grand is an adjective meaning “Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional”; grande is an adjective meaning “Of a cup of coffee: smaller than venti but larger than tall, usually 16 ounces…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) grand is about 8.7 times as common as grande.
What is the difference between grand and grande?
| grand | grande | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, prefix | adjective, noun |
| Meaning | Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional Of a large size or extent; great A thousand of some unit of currency, such as dollars or pounds. (Compare G.) | USOf a cup of coffee: smaller than venti but larger than tall, usually 16 ounces (~ 455 ml) USA grande cup of coffee |
| Example | among the grandest orchestras of our time | none recorded |
| Forms | grander, grandest | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡɹænd/ [ˈɡɹʷænd] ~ [ɡɹʷand] /ˈɡɹand/ | /ˈɡɹɑndeɪ/ /ˈɡɹændeɪ/ /ˈɡɹænd/ |
| In writing | 81 times per million words | 9.3 times per million words |
Sources: grand and grande in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of grand and grande
grand
- 1
Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional
among the grandest orchestras of our time
- 2
A thousand of some unit of currency, such as dollars or pounds. (Compare G.)
For quotations using this term, see Citations:grand
- 3
A grandparent or grandchild
- 4
of a generation removed from the original noun
Seth is Amal's grandfather
- 5
Of a large size or extent; great
a grand mountain
- 6
colloquialA thousand RPM
- 7
Great in size, and fine or imposing in appearance or impression; illustrious, dignified, magnificent
a grand monarch
- 8
A grand piano
grande
- 1
USOf a cup of coffee: smaller than venti but larger than tall, usually 16 ounces (~ 455 ml)
- 2
USA grande cup of coffee
- 3
Alternative form of grandee
- 4
Alternative form of grand
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, grand or grande?
grand appears 81 times per million words; grande 9.3 times per million words.
grand 81 times per million wordsgrande 9.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).