परनानीParnaniMaternal Great-Grandmother
Parnani (परनानी) is your maternal great-grandmother in Hindi — your mother's grandmother, the wife of your parnana. She stands one generation above your nani, marked by the prefix par- that Hindi uses to climb the family tree.
Who is your Parnani?
If nani's house is the storied holiday home of Hindi childhood, parnani is the woman who built that home's warmth a generation earlier — the grandmother your own mother once ran to for laddoos and lullabies. Women of her generation were the great oral archivists of the maternal line, carrying wedding songs, birth customs, and kitchen wisdom that written records ignored. When a parnani is still living, four generations of women — parnani, nani, mother, and child — may share a single room, an occasion families mark with photographs passed down for decades.
How it's used
In speech she is meri parnani, and the handful of children who know theirs call her Parnaniji or an affectionate Badi Nani. For example: "Meri parnani ke gaaye vivah geet aaj bhi hamare parivar ki shaadiyon mein gaaye jaate hain." — "The wedding songs my great-grandmother sang are still sung at our family's weddings."
Parnani vs similar terms
Parnani belongs to the maternal line; pardadi, your father's grandmother, is her paternal counterpart. Keep the ladder straight: nani is your mother's mother, and parnani is one rung above — the grandmother of your mother, not simply any elderly nani.
Frequently asked questions
What does Parnani mean in Hindi?
Parnani means maternal great-grandmother in Hindi — the grandmother of your mother and wife of your parnana. It adds the generation prefix par- to nani, your maternal grandmother.
What is the difference between Parnani and Pardadi?
Parnani is your great-grandmother on your mother's side, while pardadi is your great-grandmother on your father's side. They mirror the nani-dadi distinction one generation further up the tree.
Related terms
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