grandmama

The word 'grandmama' is a compound formed within English, combining the familial prefix 'grand-' with the familiar nursery term 'mama'. The prefix 'grand-' entered English via Old French from Latin 'grandis', meaning 'great' or 'large', and was applied to family relationships to indicate a senior generation. The element 'mama' is a primal, almost universal word for 'mother', arising from the easy-to-pronounce reduplication of the /m/ sound made by infants. Thus, 'grandmama' literally and affectionately signifies a 'great mother', directly reflecting the child's perspective of the maternal grandmother.

Structure: grand + mama - grand: From Latin 'grandis' (great, large). In English, a prefix used in family terms to denote a generation once removed. - mama: A reduplication from infant speech, found in many languages, meaning 'mother'. Of imitative origin.