gran

See also: Gran, Grań, Grän, graan, grań, grán, gràn, grãn, and grån

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Etymology 1

Clipping of granny.

Noun

gran (plural grans)

1. (informal, usually endearing) A grandmother.

Derived terms

• granarchist

Translations

(informal) a grandmother — see grandma,‎ granny

Etymology 2

Clipping of grandfather or grandpa.

Noun

gran (plural grans)

1. (informal, usually endearing, rare) A grandfather. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Anagrams

• ARNG, NARG, gRNA, garn, gnar, grna, narg, rang

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin grandis, grandem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾan/
• Syllabification: gran
• Rhymes: -an

Adjective

gran (plural grans)

1. big

References

• “grande”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)

Asturian

Adjective

gran

1. (apocopic, before a singular noun) alternative form of grande, big

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan gran, grant, grand, from Latin grandis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ghrewə- (“to fell, put down, fall in”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɡɾan]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Adjective

gran m or f (masculine and feminine plural grans)

1. big, large

   Antonym: petit

2. (of a person) old

   Antonym: jove

   la gent gran : aged people, elders

   els grans : (only generic masculine plural, as said by children) the adults

3. (of a person) older; oldest, eldest, senior
   • 2020 February 10, Daniel Bonaventura, “"Necessito abraçades i petons" ["I need hugs and kisses"]”, in Ara‎^[1]:

     -Hola, mare! Qui soc?
     -En Joan.
     -No, no. No soc en Joan. Soc el teu fill gran. Com es diu el teu fill gran?
     -Daniel -encara mira a terra.

     "Hello, mother! Who am I?"
     "Joan."
     "No, no. I'm not Joan. I'm your oldest son. What's the name of your oldest son?
     "Daniel." She's still looking at the ground.

4. great (very large)
5. great (important)

Derived terms

• engrandir
• grandària
• grandesa
• grandíssim
• grandor

Related terms

• grandiós

Noun

gran m (plural grans)

1. (in the plural) adults, grown-ups

Further reading

• “gran”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “gran”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “gran” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “gran”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡʁɑn]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse grǫn, from Proto-Germanic *granō, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroH-néh₂-.

Noun

gran c (singular definite granen, plural indefinite graner)

1. spruce (Picea)

   Synonym: grantræ

   Coordinate terms: fyr, lærk

2. spruce (wood from spruce trees)

Declension

Declension of gran

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gran	granen	graner	granerne
genitive	grans	granens	graners	granernes

Derived terms

• grangren
• grankogle
• grannål
• granplantage
• granskov
• julegran
• rødgran

Etymology 2

From Latin granum

Noun

gran c (singular definite grannet or granet, plural indefinite gran)

1. a grain (of salt etc.)

   Synonyms: fnug, korn

2. (figurative) a little bit

Declension

Declension of gran

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gran	grannet granet	gran	grannene granene
genitive	grans	grannets granets	grans	grannenes granenes

Derived terms

• støvgran
• tage med et gran salt

References

• “gran” in Den Danske Ordbog

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin grānum.

Noun

gran m (plural grans)

1. wheat, corn
2. grain

Related terms

• granâr

Galician

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾaŋ/ [ˈɡɾɑŋ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈɡɾaŋ/ [ˈɡɾɑŋ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈħɾaŋ/ [ˈħɾɑŋ]

• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Hyphenation: gran

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese gran, from Latin grandis.

Alternative forms

• grá, grao
• grao, grão (reintegrationist)

Adjective

gran m or f (apocopate)

1. apocopic form of grande (“great”)

   Gran Bretaña - Great Britain

   Gran Premio - Grand Prix

Usage notes

• It is used, instead of grande, when preceding singular names whose first sound is a consonant

Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese grão, from Latin grānum. Cognate with Portuguese grão, Spanish grano, and Catalan gra.

Alternative forms

• gra, grao
• gram, grão (reintegrationist)

Noun

gran m (plural grans)

1. (uncountable) grain, the seed of grass food crops
   • 1396, M. Romaní Martínez, editor, La colección diplomática de Santa María de Oseira, Santiago: Tórculo Edicións, IV; page 449:

     E nos dedes del de cada anno em paz et em salvo en a ayra do dito casar quarta de todo pan e grao que Deus em el der

     and you shall give us each year, pacifically and safely, in the threshing ground of that farm, a quarter of all the bread and the grain that God there gives

2. (countable) grain, seed, kernel, bean, a single seed of certain crops
3. (countable) grain, a single similar particle of various substances
4. (historical, countable) grano, Spanish grain, a traditional unit of mass equivalent to about 50 mg
5. (countable) grain, any of various traditional units of mass notionally based on the weight of various grains
6. (figurative, countable) speck, ounce, any extremely small quantity or amount

   Synonym: pisca

   • 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:

     Tamen bay ese tabeque
     meu velliño, pois fungàs
     que cada grao de èl gorenta,
     con eso as fremas sairàn.

     Also there it goes this tobacco,
     my little old man, since you snivel:
     each grain of it is delectable,
     with this phlegms will go out.

7. (countable) pimple, blackhead, a blocked skin pore, especially with a painful and pus-filled inflamation

   Synonym: espiña

8. (uncountable) grain, the linear surface texture of various substances

   Synonym: textura

Derived terms

• gran de corvo
• pedra de gran

Related terms

• degraer
• degrañar
• granxa
• Granxa
• Graña
• grañón
• grañudo

References

• “gran”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “grão”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “gran”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “gran” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gran”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “gran”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gran”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡran/
• Rhymes: -an
• Hyphenation: gràn

Adjective

gran (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of grande m or f by sense

   Gran Bretagna ― Great Britain

   Gran Premio ― Grand Prix

   Gran Turismo; Granturismo ― Grand tourer

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

gran m (feminine singular granda, masculine plural gragn, feminine plural grandes)

1. large; great

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French grand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɰɑ̃/

Adjective

gran

1. great
2. grown-up
3. big
4. tall

Norwegian Bokmål

gran

Etymology

From Danish gran, from Old Norse grǫn (“spruce, pine tree”), from Proto-Germanic *granō (“awn, bristles”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroH-néh₂-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡraːn/

Noun

gran f or m (definite singular grana or granen, indefinite plural graner, definite plural granene)

1. spruce (mostly the species Picea abies (Norway spruce)).
2. spruce (wood from spruce trees)

Hypernyms

• furu (“pine”)

Derived terms

• granskog, grandekket, grantopp

References

“gran” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• gron
• grøn (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse grǫn (“spruce or pine tree”), whence also gron (“muzzle; animal lips”). From Proto-Germanic *granō (“awn, bristles”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroH-néh₂-. Cognate with Faroese gron, Icelandic grön, and Swedish and Danish gran.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡraːn/

Noun

gran f (definite singular grana, indefinite plural graner, definite plural granene)

1. spruce (mostly the species Picea abies (Norway spruce)).
2. spruce (wood from spruce trees)

Derived terms

• Gran (toponym)
• granbar
• granbord
• granbork
• granbruk
• granbusk
• granhage
• granhjort
• granhol
• granholt
• grankongul grankongel, grankongle
• grankvae, grankvåde
• granlav
• granmork
• granripel
• granski
• granskog
• sitkagran

Related terms

• grene

References

• “gran” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “gran” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Occitan

Etymology 1

From Old Occitan gran, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

gran

1. big; large

Alternative forms

• grand

Etymology 2

From Latin grānum.

Noun

gran m (plural grans)

1. grain

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• grã, gram, grão, grram

Etymology

From grande, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾaŋ/

Adjective

gran

1. apocopic form of grande (“big”), before consonants

Derived terms

• a gran poder
• a gran pressa
• a gran sazon
• agram perfia

Descendants

• Fala: gran
• Galician: gran
• Portuguese: grão

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “gran”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “gran”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa
• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “gran”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “gran”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

gran m or f (plural grans)

1. big; large

Descendants

• Occitan: gran

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian гран (gran).

Noun

gran n (plural grane)

1. (obsolete) grain (unit of weight)

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	gran	granul	grane	granele
genitive-dative	gran	granului	grane	granelor
vocative	granule		granelor

References

• gran in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish grant, grand, apocopic forms of grande (“great”). Other apocopic forms inherited from Old Spanish include primer, san and según.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾan/ [ˈɡɾãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: gran

Adjective

gran m or f (apocopate, standard form grande)

1. (before the noun) apocopic form of grande; great, grand

   Synonyms: grandioso, grosso

   • 2021 April 26, John Malathronas, “¿Cuáles son los idiomas más fáciles (y difíciles) de aprender para los hablantes nativos de inglés?”, in CNN en Español‎^[2]:

     La gran ventaja de aprender ruso es que, una vez lo dominas, puedes entender otras lenguas eslavas como el checo, el polaco o el búlgaro.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• The form gran is used only before and within the noun phrase of the modified singular noun. Elsewhere, grande is used instead.

Further reading

• “gran”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

en gran

granbarr [spruce needles]

en julgran [a Christmas tree [Christmas spruce]]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡrɑːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Norse grǫn. First attested in the early 14th century.

Noun

gran c

1. spruce (mostly the species Picea abies or Norway spruce, the species found most often in Sweden)

   hugga ner en gran

   cut down a spruce tree

   klä (jul)granen

   decorate [dress] the (Christmas) tree

Declension

Declension of gran

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	gran	grans
	definite	granen	granens
plural	indefinite	granar	granars
	definite	granarna	granarnas

Derived terms

• julgran (“Christmas tree”)

See also

• tall (“pine”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Medieval Latin grānum (“smallest unit of weight”), derived from Latin grānum (“grain; seed”). First attested in 1497.

Noun

gran c

1. (historical) A Swedish grain at 0.297 mm; ¹⁄₁₀ of a nylinje (“line, 2.97 mm”) or 10 skrupel (“scruple, 29.7 µm”).

   Coordinate terms: rev, stång, fot, decimaltum, nylinje, gran, skrupel

2. (historical, pharmacy) A Swedish grain at 61.85 mg, ¹⁄₂₀ of a skrupel (“scruple, 1.237 g”).

   Coordinate terms: liber, uns, drakma, skrupel, gran

   • 1860 August 11, “Botmedel mot kolera [Cure for cholera]”, in Skara Nya Tidning:

     Alla de, ſom under ſjukdomen dagligen intogo 2 gran etiope, blefwo bewarade ifrån ſjukdomen.

     All those who, during the disease, took 2 grains of ethiope daily, were preserved from the disease.

References

• “gran”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “gran”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• garn, rang