grandmother

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

grand- +‎ mother.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʹɡɹænˌmʌðə/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðə(ɹ)/

Noun

grandmother ‎(plural grandmothers)

1. A mother of someone's parent.
2. A female ancestor or progenitor.

Synonyms

• (mother of someone's parent): baba (loanword from Eastern Europe), gammy, gram, gramma, gran, grandma, grandmom, granny, eldmother/eldermother, mamaw, meemaw, memaw, mimi, nan (British slang), nanna, nanny, nana

Antonyms

• (with regard to gender): grandfather
• (with regard to ancestry): granddaughter, grandson, grandchild

Hyponyms

• paternal grandmother
• maternal grandmother

Hypernyms

• grandparent

Derived terms

• great-grandmother

Related terms

• great-grandfather

Translations

Many languages use different terms for the mother of someone's father and the mother of someone's mother. When such a distinction is required in English, the phrases maternal grandmother ‎(“mother of one's mother”) and paternal grandmother ‎(“mother of one's father”) can be used. Specific translations can be added at those entries.

mother of someone's parent

• Afrikaans: ouma (af)
• Ainu: フチ ‎(huci)
• Albanian: gjyshe (sq) f
• Alemannic German: Grosi f
• Aleut: kukax
• Amharic: ሴት አያት ‎(set ʾäyat)
• Arabic: جَدَّة (ar) f ‎(jadda)

  Hijazi Arabic: أنّة f ‎(anna), ستّو f ‎(sittu)

• Aragonese: agüela f
• Armenian: տատ (hy) ‎(tat), տատիկ (hy) ‎(tatik), հան (hy) ‎(han)
• Aromanian: omã f, babã f
• Asturian: güela (ast) f
• Azeri: nənə (az)

  Cyrillic: нәнә

• Balinese: dadong
• Basque: amona (eu)
• Belarusian: бабу́ля f ‎(babúlja)
• Bengali: নানী ‎(nani)
• Breton: mamm-gozh (br) f
• Bulgarian: ба́ба (bg) f ‎(bába)
• Burmese: အဘွား (my) ‎(a.bhwa:), ဘွားဘွား (my) ‎(bhwa:bhwa:)
• Catalan: àvia (ca) f, iaia (ca) f
• Central Sierra Miwok: ʔamáˑ-
• Chamicuro: payako
• Cherokee: (paternal) ᎡᏂᏏ ‎(enisi), (maternal) ᎠᎵᏏ ‎(alisi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 嫲嫲 ‎(maa⁴ maa⁴) (paternal), 婆婆 ‎(po⁴ po⁴⁻²) (maternal), 祖母 ‎(zou² mou⁵) (paternal), 外祖母 ‎(ngoi⁶ zou² mou⁵) (maternal), 外婆 ‎(ngoi⁶ po⁴) (maternal)

  Hakka: 阿婆 ‎(â-phò) (paternal), 姐婆 ‎(chiá-phò) (maternal), 外阿婆 ‎(ngoi-â-phò) (maternal)

  Mandarin: 奶奶 (zh) ‎(nǎinai) (paternal), 祖母 (zh) ‎(zǔmǔ) (paternal), 外祖母 (zh) ‎(wàizǔmǔ) (maternal), 外婆 (zh) ‎(wàipó) (maternal, colloquial)

  Min Nan: 阿媽 (zh-min-nan), 阿妈 (zh-min-nan) ‎(a-má), 外媽, 外妈 ‎(guā-má), (maternal), 內媽, 內妈 ‎(lāi-má) (paternal, indirect)

• Chinook Jargon: chope
• Chuvash: кукамай ‎(kukamaj), асанне ‎(asanne)
• Crimean Tatar: qartana
• Czech: babička (cs) f
• Danish: bedstemor (da)
• Dutch: grootmoeder (nl), oma (nl)
• Esperanto: avino
• Estonian: vanaema (et)
• Ewe: mama
• Extremaduran: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: omma (fo) f
• Finnish: isoäiti (fi), mummi (fi), mummo (fi), äidinäiti (fi) (maternal), isänäiti (fi) (paternal)
• French: grand-mère (fr) f, aïeule (fr)
• Friulian: none f, ave f
• Galician: avoa (gl) f
• Georgian: ბებია ‎(bebia), დიდედა ‎(dideda), ბებო ‎(bebo), ბაბო (ka) ‎(babo)
• German: Großmutter (de) f, Omi (de) f, Oma (de) f
• Greek: γιαγιά (el) f ‎(giagiá), μάμμη (el) f ‎(mámmi)
• Greenlandic: aanaq, aanaa
• Guaraní: jarýi
• Hawaiian: kupunawahine
• Hebrew: סָבָה f ‎(savá), סָבְתָא (he) f ‎(sávta)
• Hindi: दादी (hi) f ‎(dādī), नानी (hi) f ‎(nānī)
• Hungarian: nagyanya (hu), nagymama (hu)
• Icelandic: amma (is)
• Ido: avino (io)
• Indonesian: nenek (id)
• Ingush: даь-нана ‎(dä-nana) (paternal), наьн-нана ‎(nän-nana) (maternal)
• Interlingua: granmatre (ia), ava (ia)
• Interlingue: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: máthair mhór f, seanmháthair (ga) f, mamó f, máthair chríonna f
• Italian: nonna (it) f
• Japanese: お婆さん ‎(おばあさん, obāsan), お婆ちゃん ‎(おばあちゃん, obāchan) (more informal than お婆さん, spoken more by smaller children), ばば ‎(baba) (more informal than お婆さん, spoken more by smaller children), 祖母 (ja) ‎(そぼ, sobo) (only about one's own, polite (deferential)), 外祖母 (ja) ‎(がいそぼ, gaisobo) (maternal, only about one's own)
• Kazakh: әже (kk) ‎(äje)
• Khmer: ជីដូន (km) ‎(chii doon), យាយ (km) ‎(yiey), អយ្យកា (km) ‎(ayyeakaa)
• Korean: 할머니 (ko) ‎(halmeoni), 외할머니 (ko) ‎(oehalmeoni) (maternal)

• Krio: granny
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: داپیر (ku), داپیره‌ f

• Kyrgyz: ky ‎(ky), кемпир (ky) ‎(kempir)
• Lao: ຍ່າ ‎(nyā) (paternal), ແມ່ເຖົ້າ ‎(mǣ thao) (maternal)
• Latgalian: vace, vaceite, babeņa
• Latin: avia (la) f
• Latvian: vecāmāte f, vecmamma f, vecmāmiņa f
• Lithuanian: bobutė f, senelė (lt) f, močiutė (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Groussmamm f
• Macedonian: ба́ба f ‎(bába)
• Malay: nenek
• Malayalam: മുത്തശ്ശി ‎(muttaśśi), അമ്മുമ്മ (ml) ‎(ammumma), അമ്മമ്മ (ml) ‎(ammamma)
• Maricopa: nkyew
• Mirandese: abó f, abó mai f, abó de las saias f, bó f
• Mongolian: эмээ (mn) ‎(emee)
• Nama: ǁgaosas
• Navajo: (maternal) amá sání, (paternal) análí
• Neapolitan: nonna f
• Ngazidja Comorian: koko class 5/6
• Norman: grand'-mère m (Guernsey), manman f (Jersey), grand-méthe f (Jersey)
• North Frisian:
  • Föhr: ualmam f
  • Hallig: aol f
  • Mooring: ååle f
• Northern Sami: áhkku
• Norwegian: bestemor (no), mormor (no) m, f (maternal), farmor (no) m, f (paternal)
• Novial: please add this translation if you can
• O'odham: (maternal) hu'ul, (paternal) ka꞉k
• Ojibwe: -ookomis ‎(nookomis, my grandmother)
• Old English: ealdemoder f, ealdmoder f, ieldramodor f, ealdemodor
• Oriya: ଜେଜେମାଆ ‎(jējēmā'ā), ଆଈ ‎(āī)
• Pashto: نيا (ps) f ‎(nyā), انا (ps) f ‎(anā)
• Persian: مادربزرگ (fa) ‎(mâdar-bozorg), ننه (fa) ‎(nane) (dialectal)
• Polish: babcia (pl) f, babka (pl) f, babunia (pl) f (diminutive)
• Portuguese: avó (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਨਾਨਿਮਾ f ‎(nanima)
• Romanian: bunică (ro) f, mamaie (ro) f, mama mare f
• Romansch: tatta f, tata f, nona f
• Russian: ба́бушка (ru) f ‎(bábuška), бабу́ля (ru) f ‎(babúlja) (endearing), бабу́ся (ru) f ‎(babúsja) (endearing), ба́бка (ru) f ‎(bábka) (can sound impolite), ба́ба (ru) f ‎(bába)
• Santali: ᱟᱡᱤ ‎(aaji)
• Scottish Gaelic: seanmhair (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: баба f ‎(baba), нена f, старамајка f

  Roman: baba (sh) f, nena (sh) f, staramajka (sh) f

• Shan: ၼၢႆး ‎(naaj4)
• Skolt Sami: äkk
• Slovak: baba f
• Slovene: babica (sl) f, stara mama f
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Sotho: nkgono
• Spanish: abuela (es) f
• Swabian: Ahna
• Swedish: farmor (sv) c (paternal), mormor (sv) c (maternal)
• Tagalog: lola (tl), impo, lelang, abwela
• Tajik: модаркалон (tg) ‎(modarkalon), онакалон ‎(onakalon)
• Tamil: பாட்டி (ta) ‎(pāṭṭi)
• Tatar: әби (tt) ‎(äbi), дәү әни (tt) ‎(däü äni), нәнә ‎(nänä)
• Thai: (paternal) ย่า (th) ‎(yâa), (maternal) ยาย (th) ‎(yaai)
• Tok Pisin: tumbuna
• Tupinambá: aryîa
• Turkish: büyükanne (tr), nine (tr)
• Turkmen: ene, mama
• Ukrainian: бабу́ся (uk) f ‎(babúsja), ба́ба (uk) f ‎(bába)
• Urdu: دادی f ‎(dādī), نانی f ‎(nānī) (maternal)
• Uzbek: acha (uz), buvi (uz)
• Vietnamese: bà (vi)
• Volapük: lemot (vo)
• Walloon: please add this translation if you can
• West Frisian: beppe (fy) f
• Wiradhuri: baadhin
• Yiddish: באָבע f ‎(bobe)
• Zazaki: dada, dapir, dapér, daye

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} ava