grandfather

plural grandfathers

1. A father of someone's parent.First known use 15th c.

   Grandfather, Father, and Son. The Father diſſeiſeth the Grandfather and dies, the Son endows the Mother, the Grandfather dies, the Son may enter upon the Mother; for he hath a new Right deſcended to him from the Grandfather, for the Grandfather might have entred upon the Mother, ſo ſhall his Heir.

   1662, [Edmund] Plowden, “Entry”, in H. B., transl., Plovvdens Quæries: Or, A Moot-book of Choice Cases, Useful for the Young Students of the Common Law: Englished, Methodized, and Enlarged, London: Printed for Ch. Adams, J. Starkey, and Tho[mas] Basset, […], →OCLC, page 117

   5 more examples

   Lineal conſanguinity is that which ſubſists between perſons, of whom one is deſcended in a direct line from the other: as between John Stiles (the propoſitus in the table of conſanguinity) and his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and ſo upwards in the direct aſcending line; or between John Stiles and his ſon, grandſon, great-grandſon, and ſo downwards in the direct deſcending line.

   1766, William Blackstone, “Of Title by Descent”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 203

   One circumſtance […] peculiar to the Germanic empire, is the diſtinction between its mediate and immediate members. In the ſame manner as two objects which we may ſuppose to have relation to each other, are immediately related, when there is no third object intervening, but otherwiſe only mediate. This may be illuſtrated by the example of the connexion between a grandfather and his children, who may be ſaid to be mediately related; while the relation between the parents and children, on the contrary, is immediate; […]

   1790 October, “An Historical Developement of the Political Constitution of the Germanic Empire. By J[ohann] S[tephan] Pütter, Privy Counsellor of Justice, &c. Translated from the German, by Josiah Dornford, of Lincoln’s Inn, L.L.D. Vol. II.”, in The Literary Magazine and British Review, volume V, London: Printed for the proprietors and sold by C[hristopher] Forster […], →OCLC, page 290, column 2

   My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf.— / So it stood ninety years on the floor; / It was taller by half than the old man himself, / Though it weighed not a pennyweight more. / It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born, / And was always his treasure and pride; / But it stopp’d short—never to go again— / When the old man died.

   1876, Henry C[lay] Work, “Grandfather’s Clock. Song and Chorus”, New York, N.Y.: Published by C. M. Cady, […], →OCLC, page 34

   Grandfather was friendly, formal, and strict with the children in his large family, and quite displeased with the lively goings-on of the grandchildren. […] He only joked with me once, when I was four, and never again. Our festive Sunday dinner was crowned by a pudding. Perhaps I looked too greedy—Grandfather threatened to throw the pudding out of the window. It is reported that I answered, "Then I'll jump out of the window and gobble it up all by myself."

   1965 March 25, Richard Willstätter, “My Ancestors”, in Lilli S[chwenk] Hornig, transl., edited by Arthur Stoll, From My Life: The Memoirs of Richard Willstätter: Translated from the German Edition, New York, N.Y.; Amsterdam: W. A. Benjamin, →OCLC, page 10

   Those numbers take on added significance when he thinks about his relationship with his grandfather, who just turned 90 this year. […] What happens then is kids are “deprived of grandmothers (maybe increasingly grandfathers, too) who are comfortable in their own skin, aging gracefully and being a good role model to kids, showing that growing old is not the worst thing that can happen to a woman.”

   2015 April 28, Kelly Wallace, “Older parents face ‘grandparent deficit’”, in CNN

   Antonyms: grandmother, grandson, abuela, baba, babcia, babulya /babulia (chiefly in Eastern European (especially Russian) contexts), babushka, babusia

2. broadlyA male forefather.

   1 more example

   Brethren: Here is the pipe which your grandfathers used to smoke with when they met together in councils of peace. And here is some of that good tobacco, prepared for our grandfathers from God:—When you shall taste of it, you shall feel it through all your body; and it will put you in remembrance of the good councils your grandfathers used to hold with the English, your brethren, and that ancient friendship they had together.

   1758 November 25, [Israel Daniel Rupp], “[No. XI.] Post’s Second Journal, 1758. The Second Journal of Christian Frederick Post, on a Message from the Governor of Pennsylvania, to the Indians of the Ohio, in the Latter Part of the Same Year.”, in Early History of Western Pennsylvania, and of the West, […], Pittsburgh, Pa.: Published by A. P. Ingram, […]; Harrisburg, Pa.: Published by W. O. Hickok, published 1848, →OCLC, page 111

   Synonyms: highfather, grandsire

3. computingThe archived older version of a file that immediately preceded the father file.

   File C is the grandfather because it was used to create file B.

   1983, Computerworld, volume 17, number 50, page 22

   2 more examples

   Three generations of file are usually kept, being the grandfather, father and son files.

   2004, Ray Bradley, The Ultimate Computing Glossary for Advanced Level, page 31

   The file from which the father was developed with the transaction files of the appropriate day is the grandfather.

   2007, O. Ray Whittington, Patrick R. Delaney, Wiley CPA Exam Review 2008: Auditing and Attestation, page 556

present singular third person grandfathers · participle present grandfathering · participle past grandfathered · past grandfathered

1. transitiveTo be, or act as, a grandfather to.

present singular third person grandfathers · participle present grandfathering · participle past grandfathered · past grandfathered

1. UStransitivelawTo retain discontinued laws or rules for (an object, individual or organization previously affected by them).First known use 1950s

   Old power plants are sometimes grandfathered from having to meet new clean air requirements.

   2013 October 22, Alan Greenblatt, “The Racial History of the Grandfather Clause”, in NPR, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2019

   3 more examples

   Had the original work been permitted, it would be grandfathered into any code changes each time they occurred, Arvada officials said. The latest came in 2006.

   2009 June 19, David Migoya, “Arvada homes haunted by past due code violations”, in The Denver Post, Denver, Colo.: Digital First Media, published 6 May 2016 (update), →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2017

   With the signing of the Medical Devices Amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic in 1976, the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] gained regulatory authority over [breast] implants, but the existing Cronin-Gerow implants were grandfathered, making them exempt from the new legislation.

   2014, Matthew J. Fullana, Gary E. Wnek, “History of Techniques and Materials Used in Volume Enhancement”, in Charles K. Herman, Berish Strauch, editors, Encyclopedia of Aesthetic Rejuvenation through Volume Enhancement, New York, N.Y.: Thieme Medical Publishers, →ISBN, section 2.5.1 (Silicone Breast Implants), page 12

   In practice, most of the regimes reviewed by the FHTP [Forum on Harmful Tax Practices] during its early years and which were abolished were either terminated without grandfathering or included grandfathering within this maximum five-year period.

   2017 November, “Annex B: Guidance on Closing Off of Regimes and Grandfathering for non-IP Regimes”, in Harmful Tax Practices – 2017 Progress Report on Preferential Regimes: Inclusive Framework on BEPS: Action 5 (OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifing Project), Paris: OECD Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 27

   Synonyms: grandfather in