Etymology

greet

G2R1E1E1T1

Today it means: To welcome in a friendly manner, either in person or through another means such as writing. Full definition →

Middle English greten ← Old English grētan ← Proto-West Germanic *grōtijan
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greet · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*grōtijaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*grōtijan
  3. Old English · inherited fromgrētan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromgreten
  5. English todaygreet

From Middle English greten, from Old English grētan, from Proto-West Germanic *grōtijan, from Proto-Germanic *grōtijaną. Cognate with Dutch groeten, German grüßen, grüssen.

greet · adjective2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromgreet
  2. English todaygreet

From Middle English greet, grete (“great”).

greet · verb, noun3

  1. Old Norse · derived fromgráta
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*grātan
  3. English todaygreet

From a blend of two Old English verbs, grētan, grǣtan (itself from Proto-West Germanic *grātan); and of Old English grēotan (itself from *greutan), both meaning "to weep, lament". Possibly reinforced in Northern England and Scotland by Old Norse gráta, whence also Danish græde, Norwegian gråte, Swedish gråta, all meaning "to cry, to weep".

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishgreet all →

great

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.