great-grandparent

A great-grandparent is the parent of a person’s grandparent (the grandparent of a person’s parent).

When a parent’s child has children, that parent becomes a grandparent. When those children have children, the grandparent becomes a great-grandparent. Great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers are great-grandparents.

In your family tree, you have four grandparents and eight great-grandparents.

Example: My kids were lucky enough to get to know three of their great-grandparents.

The first records of the word great-grandparent come from the 1700s. 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.

Another great- can be added for each generation. For example, your great-great-grandparents are the parents of your great-grandparents. Most people refer to their great-grandparents with titles like great-grandma and great-grandpa, sometimes in combination with a name, as in Great-Grandpa Frank.

What are some words that share a root or word element with great-grandparent? 

• great-grandmother
• great-grandfather
• grandparent
• great-uncle
• great-aunt

What are some words that often get used in discussing great-grandparent?

• great-grandchildren
• love
• kindness
• spoil
• special
• care
• family
• patriarch
• matriarch
• ancestor

Great-grandparent is used as a way to refer to the parents of one’s grandparents, but it’s not used as a title like other words, such as great-grandma and great-grandpa.

It’s 10 o’clock at night & I’m making oatmeal raisin cookies w my great grandparents. I’m so blessed to have them

— Kayt ✿ (@KaytlinWalker) August 2, 2020

My great grandparents have been married for 72 years. Tell me again why you don’t believe in true love??

— Amber💕 (@AmberNems) July 30, 2020

Currently burning my dinner because a relative posted 170 pictures from a family album on facebook, including to me never before seen wedding photos of my great-grandparents

— Coffee and Church Records (@coffeechurchrec) August 4, 2020

Is great-grandparent used correctly in the following sentence?

I’m a great-grandparent of 18, a grandparent of 12, and a parent of four, so I know a thing or two about temper tantrums.