The term grandparents (French grand-parents, Ger. Großeltern) as a compound noun is attested in German since the 16th century [1. 532]. It was probably created by analogy to the terms grandfather and grandmother, already found in 12th-century texts. Initially, though, grandparents was used as a general term for ancestors, like Old High German ano and ana (cf. Ger. Ahn, Ahnin). Not until the 18th century was the range of meanings restricted to the parents of one’s parents. Unlike many older Germanic kinship terms (e.g. Oheim, Onkel, uncle), the term does not di…