Great Grandparents or Great-grandparents.

This past week my father died. He, and my grandfather and my great-grandfather all lived to be in their 90s. So it bodes well for this blog to go on for another few decades. I was wondering why we call our parent's parents "grand" and their parents "great." So let's find out and see where it goes.

The use of grand- in talking of your parents' parents came originally from Latin and Greek. Grandis in Latin means big or great, or full or abundant. (Perhaps the abundant meaning is the reason behind the appellation. Many grandparents delight in the abundance of the number of grandchildren they have. I know my dad did.)

The use came into English in 1200 or earlier. It came from Anglo-French, where the words were graunde dame. 

But where did "great" come from? It was apparently first used to describe a relationship once-removed, and the earliest attested use if of a great uncle. In Old English you would have referred to your great-grandfather as your þridda fæder, which literally translated is "third father." By Middle English the term was furþur ealdefade. (Any Middle English people out there know what furþur ealdefade is, literally translated? My guess is "further old father.)

Great-grandfather was first used in the 1510s, and it took a decade for great-grandmothers to be included.

I used removed earlier to mean "distant in relationship by a degree," in this case once-removed. I thought that while we're in the 1500s we might as well cover its meaning, since it came into use in the 1540s.

Removed in a genealogical sense refers to a generation. So your great uncle is your uncle once removed, or your father's uncle. So your grandparent's relatives are twice removed, and your great-grandparents relatives are three times removed. I just filed a photo of my grandmother and her brother Milt: my uncle twice removed.

Does the hyphen need to be in great-grandparent? Yes. For instance, my grandson Noah no longer has any great-grandparents, But he has some great grandparents, if I do say so myself. Our family is blessed with great ancestor, even though one more was "removed" this week.