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grandfather

grand·fa·ther/ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/noun, verb

grandfather is spelled G-R-A-N-D-F-A-T-H-E-R: 11 letters and 3 syllables (grand·fa·ther). It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, grandfather means “A father of someone's parent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of grandfather is grandfathers.

How many letters and syllables are in grandfather?

Letters11: G-R-A-N-D-F-A-T-H-E-R
Syllables3: grand·fa·ther
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,752nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is grandfather?

Grandfather appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce grandfather?

  • UK /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑːðə(r)/
  • UK /ˈɡɹændˌfɑːðə/
  • US /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/

Grandfather has 3 syllables, split grand·fa·ther in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-grandfather.ogg, En-us-grandfather.ogg, En-au-grandfather.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with grandfather

Also written: paw paw.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of grandfather

  • grandfathers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • grandfathering participle, present
  • grandfathered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does grandfather mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A father of someone's parent.

  2. 2

    A male forefather.

  3. 3

    The archived older version of a file that immediately preceded the father file.

verb

  1. 1

    To be, or act as, a grandfather to.

  2. 2

    USTo retain discontinued laws or rules for (an object, individual or organization previously affected by them).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Grandfather in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgrand-père, aïeul (grandfather (from either side))
GermanGroßvater, Grossvater, Opa, Opi, Großvater väterlicherseits, Großvater mütterlicherseits (grandfather (from either side))
Portugueseavô (grandfather (from either side)), avoengo (male forefather)
Spanishabuelo (grandfather (from either side)), anteriorar, vestigiar (to retain existing laws or rules for a thing…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does grandfather come from?

The noun is derived from Middle English grandfadre, graundfadir, graunfadir, grauntfader, and other forms, from graunt (“big, large; great, important”) + fā̆der (“male parent, father; remoter male ancestor”), probably modelled after Middle French grandpere, grant pere (“male parent; remoter male ancestor”) (whence French grand-père); the English word is analysable as grand- + father. Superseded earlier eldfather, elderfather. The verb is derived from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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