Today’s Spanish word of the day is “abuelo” in the masculine form, or “abuela” in the feminine form.
“Abuelo” means “grandfather” or “granddad”, while “abuela” means “grandmother” or “grandma”. The plural “abuelos” means “grandparents”.
The diminutive forms “abuelito” and “abuelita” can be used as affectionate terms to refer to a grandfather and grandmother respectively.
The terms “abuelo” and “abuela”, as well as their diminuitive -ito/-ita forms, can also be used colloquially to refer to old people.
The words “abuelo” and “abuela” come from Latin avos, meaning “ancestor” or “grandfather” and Latin ava, meaning “grandmother”. The English words “uncle” and “avuncular” are related to these Latin roots, as they come from Latin avunculus, which meant “mother’s brother” and was derived from a word meaning “little grandfather”.
Example sentences
Mi abuelo siempre cuenta historias de cuando era joven.
My grandfather always tells stories from when he was young.
Voy a visitar a mi abuela este fin de semana.
I’m going to visit my grandfather this weekend.
La abuela tiene una colección de fotos antiguas de la familia.
Grandmother has a collection of old family photos.
Este verano vamos a pasar las vacaciones con el abuelo en el campo.
This summer, we’re going to spend the holidays with granddad in the countryside.
La abuela solía tener un jardín hermoso, lleno de flores y hierbas que usaba para sus recetas.
Grandma used to have a beautiful garden, full of flowers and herbs that she used for her recipes.
