The story
- Montagnais · derived frommishta“grand, great”
- French · calque ofGrand-Sault
- English todayGrand Falls
* (town in New Brunswick): Calque of French Grand-Sault, derived from grand (“big, great”) and sault (“waterfall”). The town is named after a large set of waterfalls in the Saint John River. * (Churchill Falls): grand+falls (“waterfall”). From being a waterfall located on the Grand River. Coined by Hudson's Bay Company explorer John McLean 1820s. From the river's name in Innu, Mishta-shipu. From Montagnais mishta (“grand, great”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.