Grandmother, affectionately (4)
I believe the answer is:
nana
'grandmother affectionately' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for nana that I've seen before include "Fool; novel by Zola" , "Darling dog" , "Zola tale of a courtesan" , "Informal grandmother" , "granny" .)