Meaning

noun an elderly man

noun an electrician responsible for lighting on a movie or tv set

noun a person who exercises control over workers

originLikely a contraction of godfather, but with the vowels influenced by grandfather. Compare French compère, German Gevatter. Compare also Old English ġefædera (“godfather”), of which some unattested dialectal descendant may have been an influence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0