grandfather
grandfather — noun
1. A man who is the parent of one of your parents — either your mother's father or
A man who is the parent of one of your parents — either your mother's father or your father's father.
Every summer, Haruto visits his grandfather in the countryside and helps him tend the garden.
collocation: visit + grandfather
The old photograph on the wall shows my grandfather shaking hands with the mayor.
Lucía's grandfather taught her how to prepare traditional dishes from their home region.
Every Sunday, Kenji's grandfather walks him to the park and buys him ice cream.
When my grandfather was young, he worked as a carpenter before opening his own shop.
- grandmother
the female equivalent, parent of one of your parents
用法筆記
In Chinese, a paternal grandfather is called 祖父 (zǔfù) and a maternal grandfather is called 外祖父 (wàizǔfù). English uses 'grandfather' for both, so when the distinction matters, add a phrase like 'my father's father' or 'my mother's father'.
常見錯誤
2. A person who was the first to do something important in a particular field, and
A person who was the first to do something important in a particular field, and is therefore seen as its creator or earliest major figure.
Louis Armstrong is often called the grandfather of jazz music for his early innovations.
pattern: grandfather of [field]
Many historians consider Ibn Sina the grandfather of modern medicine.
pattern: consider + [person] + [the] grandfather of [field]
Art critics call the Brazilian painter the grandfather of abstract art in South America.
The engineer is widely respected as the grandfather of the smartphone revolution.
- pioneer
broader term; a pioneer can be an early contributor without being the very first
- founding father
stronger emphasis on establishing an institution or field
- originator
focuses on being the first to create or conceive something
文法句型
grandfather + of + [field/domain]
用法筆記
Always followed by 'of' plus a domain name (e.g., 'grandfather of jazz', 'grandfather of modern physics'). This is a reverential label for the single earliest major pioneer — it is not used for minor or later contributors.
常見錯誤
grandfather — verb
1. To allow a person, business, or activity to keep following an old rule instead o
To allow a person, business, or activity to keep following an old rule instead of a new one, because they were already in operation before the new rule was introduced.
The old factory was grandfathered in when the new environmental laws were passed.
passive: be grandfathered in
Existing students are grandfathered under the previous tuition fee structure for two more years.
collocation: grandfathered under [old rule]
The city council decided to grandfather the historic buildings so they would avoid costly renovations.
The local pub was grandfathered in when the smoking ban took effect.
- apply
in the sense of enforcing new rules on everyone including pre-existing cases
- subject to
to make someone or something comply with new regulations
文法句型
grandfather + [person/entity] + in
be grandfathered in
用法筆記
This verb originates from the US legal term 'grandfather clause' — provisions in Southern states' laws (1890s–1915) that exempted voters whose grandfathers had voted before 1867, effectively disenfranchising Black citizens. Today the term is used neutrally in law, business, and policy for any rule that exempts pre-existing situations from new requirements. The most common form is the passive: 'be grandfathered in'. The active transitive form ('to grandfather someone/something') is possible but less frequent.