Grandchildren
nounThe children of one's own children, considered together.
How to spell grandchildren
13 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce grandchildren
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does grandchildren mean?
- nounThe children of one's own children, considered together.
Grandchildren in a sentence
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The retired couple visit their grandchildren every weekend.
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She left the entire estate to be divided among her grandchildren.
Where does grandchildren come from?
Language of origin: French
This is a compound built from 'grand' and 'children'. The 'grand' element comes through Old French 'grand', from the Latin 'grandis', meaning 'great, large, or full-grown'; in family terms it was borrowed to mark a generation further removed, just as 'grandmother' and 'grandfather' do. 'Children' is the plural of 'child', a native Old English word 'cild', whose unusual plural took the old -r ending (as in 'cildru') and later picked up an extra -en plural marker, giving the doubled-up form 'children'. The combination 'grandchild' is recorded in English from the 1500s, with 'grandchildren' following naturally as its plural. The spelling trap lives entirely in the second half: 'children' is one of the few survivors of a very old double plural, so it is neither 'childs' nor 'childrens'.
How the word is built
- grand- (one generation removed)
- child
- -ren (irregular plural of child)
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