Meaning & use
grand aunt
Last updated
UK/ˌɡrænd ˈɑːnt/
US/ˌɡrænd ˈænt/
Meaning
nouncountable
The sister of one of your grandparents, or the wife of a grandparent's brother.
Grammar: Countable: my grand aunt lives in Ohio.
Patterns
- someone's grand aunt
My grand aunt gave me her old recipe book.
We visited my grand aunt in Boston over the holidays.
Her grand aunt Maria is ninety-two and still gardens every day.
Word forms
| plural | grand aunts |
|---|
Common combinations
- my grand aunt
- My grand aunt tells the best stories.
- visit a grand aunt
- We visit a grand aunt every summer.
- a favorite grand aunt
- She is my favorite grand aunt.
- my father's grand aunt
- That photo shows my father's grand aunt as a girl.
Synonyms and how they differ
- great-aunt
- Great-aunt is the most common term, and it means exactly the same as grand aunt.
- grandaunt
- Grandaunt is a single-word spelling of the same relation and is slightly less common.
- granny aunt
- Granny aunt is a rare family nickname rather than a standard term.
Opposites
Word family
- grand uncle noun
- a grandparent's brother
- grandparent noun
- a parent of your parent
- grandniece noun
- the granddaughter of your sibling
- grandnephew noun
- the grandson of your sibling
- aunt noun
- a sister of your parent
Commonly confused: grand aunt or grandmother?
grand aunt vs grandmother
A grandmother is your parent's mother, whereas a grand aunt is your grandmother's or grandfather's sister.
Practice
Your grandmother's sister is your ___.
Choose one answer.
A grand aunt (or great-aunt) is the sister of a grandparent. A first cousin is the child of an aunt or uncle, and a niece is a sibling's daughter.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grand aunt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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