grandfather

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English grandfadre, graundfadir, graunfadir, grauntfader, and other forms, from graunt (“big, large; great, important”) + fā̆der (“male parent, father; remoter male ancestor”), probably modelled after Middle French grandpere, grant pere (“male parent; remoter male ancestor”) (whence French grand-père); the English word is analysable as grand- + father. Superseded earlier eldfather, elderfather. The verb is derived from the noun.