grandmamma

Grandmamma is an informal word for grandmother—the mother of a person’s parent.

Grandmamma can also be spelled grandmama. Both words are much less common than grandma. The words mama and mamma are informal ways of saying mother and are much more commonly used.

Grandmamma should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandmamma that I miss her. 

But grandmamma does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to her, as in Please tell my grandmamma that I miss her. 

Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandmamma, as long as you call her.

The first records of the word grandmamma come from around the 1700s. The word mamma is a variant of mama, which is first recorded in the 1500s but was certainly used in speech much earlier than that. The prefix grand- is used in family terms to indicate a person who is one generation removed, as in grandparent and grandchild. (The prefix great- indicates yet another generation, as in great-grandmother.)

Grandmothers often have special bonds with their grandchildren (who they’re known to spoil with love, affection, and candy). It’s common for grandchildren to refer to their grandmothers with informal names. Grandma is perhaps the most common variant of the word grandmother, but there are many others, including grandmamma, grandmom, gramma, granny, and nana. Many families have their own specific version, such as meemaw and MaMotts.

What are some other forms related to grandmamma?

• grandmama (alternate spelling)

What are some synonyms for grandmamma?

• grandma
• grandmom
• granny
• nana
• grandmother

What are some words that share a root or word element with grandmamma? 

• great-grandmother
• grandparent
• grandfather
• mother
• ma
• mama

What are some words that often get used in discussing grandmamma?

• grandchildren
• love
• kindness
• spoil
• special
• care
• family
• matriarch

Grandmamma is one of the many informal variants of the word grandmother. When it’s used as a proper name, it should be capitalized.

My grandmamma at 23 from the resettlement camp after being liberated from a concentration camp two years earlier. pic.twitter.com/A9P0BInynK

— Mātōnya (@mathonwy) August 2, 2020

My grandmamma always said this….

— Loc (@Loc0825) July 29, 2020

my momma and grandmamma really my hearts man ❤️ so thankful for them

— kaylawayla 💮 (@issaneighbor) July 28, 2020

Is grandmamma used correctly in the following sentence?

I’m a grandmamma of two and a mother of five, so I know a thing or two about temper tantrums.