Etymology

Gretna Green

Today it means: Any town with liberal marriage laws, a place where couples elope. Full definition →

Old English greot
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The story

  1. Old English · derived fromgreot“grit”
  2. English todayGretna Green

"Green at the gravelly hill", from Old English greot (“grit”) and hoh (“hill”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishgreot all →

gritGirtonGirtfordGreat Bridge

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.