What's the word?

[F1fan]

Does anybody know of the word that corresponds to 'Grandparent' the was 'maternal' does to 'mother and 'paternal' does to 'father'? Best I can come up with so far is 'grandpaternal'.

[Quizmonkey]

The word is AVAL.

[Quizmonster]

'Grandparental' and grandpaternal are both listed in The Oxford English Dictionary.

[Quizmonster]

Ah! Yet another bit of sunchrography. At least we came up with different - if equally correct - answers.

[Quizmonkey]

Yes, Monster...but I think mine is more correct than yours :)

[Quizmonster]

I don't, Monkey!

[Quizmonkey]

Get away with you!: if you're asked for a word meaning 'pertaining to a grandparent', there'll be no prizes for just adding 'al' ;)

[Quizmonster]

Why not?

[Quizmonkey]

You're yanking my chain, as they say in the States. Let's call it quits!

[F1fan]

Well,thank you to both of you for your answers!

[Quizmonster]

You're right, Q...I was taking the mickey somewhat!
On a serious note, however, the one thing the questioner can absolutely count on - should he/she ever use the word 'aval' - is that virtually no-one will understand it, whereas everyone will understand 'grandparental'.
So obscure is 'aval' that even The Oxford English Dictionary - generally considered the 'bible' of the English lexis - does not even list the word in the grandparently sense! (Nor does it appear as such in the updated, online version of the dictionary.) It would appear, therefore, to be a very recent coinage despite its ancient linguistic heritage.
Yes, it appears in Chambers and on several websites dedicated to obscure words, but that's all that can be claimed for it.
But, as you say...what the hey! Cheers

[Quizmonkey]

I totally agree with you Monster (phew!) - for practical use, yours wins. But I took it as a quiz question or crossword clue. It does crop up in crosswords occasionally, usually when the setter is stuck with tryimg to fill A-A- !

[shazbang]

Your grandparents on your mothers side would be referred to as maternal grandmother/father and on your fathers side paternal grandmother/father. Dont know if this is 'official' term but have heard this being used quite a lot.

[F1fan]

Was looking for a term I could use in a practical sense,and I think Grandparental is probably the most widely-recognised,so I'll use that.Very helpful suggestions though.