Etymology

elope

e·lope
E1L1O1P3E1

Today it means: Of a married or engaged person, to run away from home with a paramour. Full definition →

Anglo-Norman aloper ← Proto-West Germanic *andihlaupan ← Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂unt-
  3. Proto-Germanic*unþa-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*unþa-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*klewb-
  6. Proto-Germanic*hlaupaną
  7. Proto-West Germanic*hlaupan
  8. Proto-West Germanic*andihlaupan
  9. Anglo-Normanaloper
  10. English todayelope

From Anglo-Norman aloper (“to abduct, run away”), itself borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *andihlaupan (“to run away”). Equivalent to and- + lope as well as and- + leap (these being doublets). First attested in 1593. More at lope.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.