grandmother
grand·mo·ther/ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/noun
grandmother is spelled G-R-A-N-D-M-O-T-H-E-R: 11 letters and 3 syllables (grand·mo·ther). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, grandmother means “A mother of someone's parent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of grandmother is grandmothers.
How many letters and syllables are in grandmother?
| Letters | 11: G-R-A-N-D-M-O-T-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: grand·mo·ther |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 grandmother?
Grandmother appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 grandmother?
- UK /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðə(r)/
- UK /ˈɡɹænˌmʌðə/
- US /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/
Grandmother has 3 syllables, split grand·mo·ther in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-grandmother.ogg, En-us-grandmother.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of grandmother
- grandmothers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does grandmother mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mother of someone's parent.
- 2
A female ancestor or progenitor.
- 3
In Amazonian shamanism and related contexts, a reverential name for the ayahuasca vine or brew, symbolizing its role as a wise, guiding spirit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Grandmother in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mother of someone's parent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | grand-mère, aïeule |
| German | Großmutter, Oma, Omi, Großmütterchen, Großmütterlein |
| Portuguese | avó |
| Spanish | abuela |
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 grandmother come from?
From Middle English graundmodre, grauntmoder, granmoder; equivalent to grand- + mother. Compare French grand-mère. Superseded earlier eldmother, eldermother.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).