Meaning & use
great-aunt
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
The sister of one of your grandparents, or the aunt of one of your parents.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a great-aunt' or 'two great-aunts'. Use 'my great-aunt' when talking about a specific one; the plural is 'great-aunts'.
Patterns
- my great-aunt
- a great-aunt of mine
- Great-Aunt + name
My great-aunt lives in a small house by the sea.
At the family party, I finally met my great-aunt for the first time.
Great-Aunt Mary always sends me a birthday card.
Word forms
| plural | great-aunts |
|---|
Common combinations
- my great-aunt
- My great-aunt taught me how to knit.
- great-aunt on my mother's side
- She's my great-aunt on my mother's side.
- visit a great-aunt
- We visit our great-aunt every summer.
- Great-Aunt + name
- Great-Aunt Lucy is coming to stay for the weekend.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grandaunt
- A less common word with the same meaning; it appears mostly in older books or formal family histories, while 'great-aunt' is the everyday term.
Word family
- great-uncle noun
- The brother of one of your grandparents, or the uncle of one of your parents.
- aunt noun
- The sister of one of your parents, or your uncle's wife.
- great-niece noun
- The granddaughter of your brother or sister; the daughter of your niece or nephew.
- great-nephew noun
- The grandson of your brother or sister; the son of your niece or nephew.
Commonly confused: great-aunt or aunt? great-aunt or great-aunt?
great-aunt vs aunt
An aunt is your parent's sister, one generation closer than a great-aunt. Your great-aunt is your grandparent's sister or your parent's aunt.
great-aunt vs great-aunt
Spelling: use a hyphen between 'great' and 'aunt' (great-aunt), not a space or a slash. The same pattern applies to great-uncle, great-grandmother, etc.
Practice
My grandmother's sister is my ______.
Choose one answer.
'Great-aunt' is correct because she is the sister of a grandparent. 'Aunt' would mean your parent's sister, which is one generation closer. 'Great-niece' is the relationship in the opposite direction (your sibling's granddaughter), and 'grandmother' is the wrong generation and the wrong person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “great-aunt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.