ˈgran(d)ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷, -raan- noun
Etymology: Middle English graundmoder (translation of Middle French grant mere ), from Middle French grant grand + Middle English moder mother — more at grand , mother
1.
a. : the mother of one's father or mother ; also : foremother
b. : an old or elderly and venerable woman
2. : a woman or something thought of as female that is the earliest or oldest in a line of similar and usually successively developing things
the grandmother of writers of modern verse
the grandmother of all suffragettes
London … is the grandmother of capitals — T.H.Fielding