bisnonna
The Italian word for great grandmother is bisnonna.
Bisnonna is used to refer to the mother of one's grandmother or grandfather.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is a compound of the prefix bis-, meaning twice or second and nonna, meaning grandmother.
When do people say it?
To show respect when speaking to a great grandmother, one might use the third person singular Come sta? instead of Come stai?
Did you know?
- In Italian, the prefix bis- is used for the next generation's relation, but for a great-great-grandmother, the prefix is repeated to create trisnonna.
- The prefix used in bisnonna is also used in technical fields like music or logic to indicate that an action is being performed 'a second time'.
- The term bisnonna can be used metaphorically in some Italian dialects to describe someone who is very old or acting like an elder.
Examples in context
- È la mia bisnonna.She's my great-grandmother.This sentence is useful for identifying one's bisnonna.Tatoeba #3541089 by Guybrush88, translation #2774291 by _undertoad
- Cara bisnonna Giulia, sei sempre stata la roccia della nostra famiglia.Dear great grandmother Giulia, you have always been the rock of our family.
- Mia bisnonna vive in campagna.My great grandmother lives in the countryside.
- La tua bisnonna è molto simpatica.Your great grandmother is very nice.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia and Francesco are looking at old family photographs.
- SofiaChi è questa donna?Who is this woman?
- FrancescoÈ la mia bisnonna.It is my great grandmother.
- SofiaSembra una persona molto dolce.She looks like a very sweet person.
- FrancescoSì, era davvero speciale.Yes, she was truly special.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
