Grandson

How to spell grandson

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce grandson

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does grandson mean?

1. nounThe son of one's son or daughter.

Grandson in a sentence

• Her grandson visits every weekend to help with the garden.

• The old man taught his grandson how to fish.

Where does grandson come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is a compound built from grand and son, and it follows a French pattern of using grand to mean 'one generation removed' rather than simply 'large'. The grand element comes from the Latin grandis, meaning 'great' or 'full grown', which passed into Old French as grant and grand. English already had grandsire and grandmother by the 1200s, modelled on the French grand pere and grand mere, and grandson appears slightly later, by the 1580s, as the partner term for granddaughter. The son half is a thoroughly native word from Old English sunu, a male child, with relatives across the Germanic languages including the German Sohn. The spelling holds no real surprises: it is simply grand joined directly to son, with no extra letters or silent traps, which is why most adults write it without hesitation.

How the word is built

• grand- (one generation removed, from French grand 'great')
• son (male child, from Old English sunu)