曾そう祖そ母ぼ

also: ひいばば · ひばば · ひおおば

そ

う

そ

ぼ

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

great-grandmother

Refers to the mother of one's grandparent. The reading そうそぼ is formal, while ひいばば is colloquial and often used by children.

曾そう祖そ母ぼは今年ことしで95歳さいになります。
My great-grandmother will be 95 this year.
ひいばばの家いえに行いくのが楽たのしみだ。
I look forward to visiting my great-grandma's house.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

曾once, before, formerly
祖ancestor, pioneer, founder
母mother
曽formerly, once, before

Related words

曾そう祖そ父ふ
Means great-grandfather; the male counterpart of 曾祖母.
祖そ母ぼ
Means grandmother; one generation closer than 曾祖母.

Written forms

曾祖母Usage100%
- そうそぼ
  Standard kanji spelling; 曾 is the older form of 曽.
- ひいばば
- ひばば
- ひおおば
曽祖母
- そうそぼ
  Variant using the simplified kanji 曽; less common but still used.
- ひばば
- ひいばば
- ひおおば
ひいばば
Kana spelling for the colloquial reading ひいばば, often used in speech or informal writing.
ひばば
Contracted colloquial reading; less common than ひいばば.
ひおおば
Alternate colloquial reading; rarely used in modern Japanese.

Etymology

Compound of 曾 (great-) and 祖母 (grandmother). The colloquial readings ひいばば and ひばば derive from reduplicative and contracted forms of ひ (great) and ばば (old woman/grandmother).