Grandparent

Grandparents are a ] this is the not asked forwhat spurred this increase in longevity but largely results in the upgrade medical engineering and well standard, but it is broadly believed that a key consequence of three generations being well together was the preservation of information which could otherwise take been lost; an example of this important information might defecate been where to find water in times of drought.

In cases where parents are unwilling or unable to manage adequate care for their children e.g., financial obstacles, marriage problems, illness or death, grandparents often take on the role of primary caregivers. Even when this is non the case, in addition to particularly in traditional cultures, grandparents often have a direct and clear role in explanation to the raising, care and nurture of children. Grandparents are second-degree relatives to their grandchildren and share 25% genetic overlap.

A step-grandparent can be the step-parent of the parent or the step-parent's parent or the step-parent's step-parent though technically this might be called a step-step-grandparent. The various words for grandparents at times may also be used to refer to any elderly person, especially the terms gramps, granny, grandfather, granddad, grandmother, nan, maw-maw, paw-paw and others which families make up themselves

Great-grandparents and beyond

The parents of a grandparent, or the grandparents of a parent, are called the same label as grandparents grandfather/-mother, grandpa/-ma, granddad/-ma, etc. with the prefix great- added, with an extra great- added for used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters additional generation. One's great-grandparent's parents would be "great-great-grandparents".

To avoid a proliferation of "greats" when inspect genealogical trees, one may also use ordinals instead of combine "greats"; thus a "great-great-grandfather" would be the "second great-grandfather", and a "great-great-great-grandfather" would be a third great-grandfather, and so on. This system is used by some genealogical websites such as Geni. One may also use cardinal numbers for numbering greats, for example, great-great-great-grandmother becomes 3×-great-grandmother.

Individuals who share the same great-grandparents but are not siblings or number one cousins are called "second cousins" to used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters other, ascousins have grandparents who are siblings. Similarly, "third cousins" would have great-grandparents who are siblings.