Grootvaders

Grootvaders is the plural form of grootvader in Dutch, meaning grandfathers. The term is used in everyday speech to refer to more than one grandfather within a family. Etymology: it is composed of groot- meaning "great" or "large" and vader meaning "father," following common Dutch compound formation for parental generations. In Dutch, grootvader is used as a familial relation term; grootvaders is the corresponding plural.

Beyond its literal meaning, grootvaders may appear as a proper noun in media or branding, often adopted with a playful or affectionate tone to denote a group of elder men, a community project, or a fictional faction. Because Dutch uses compounds freely, "Grootvaders" can function as a name for a fictional organization or a cultural reference in a story, film, or game, but such uses are not standardized and vary by author.

In usage, the term is more likely to occur in Dutch-speaking contexts, such as families discussing relatives, or in Dutch-language literature and media that reference elder men as a group. Related terms include grootmoeder (grandmother), grootouders (grandparents), and familie.

See also: grootvader, grootmoeder, grootouders, Dutch kinship terms, grandfather in other languages.