elope

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to leave secretly in order to marry, or to marry privately without a public ceremony or advance announcement

   Rather than plan a large wedding, they decided to elope at the coast.

2. 2
   verb

   dated: to leave one's spouse or intended partner and run away with a lover

   The scandal began when the officer eloped with a married woman.

From Anglo-Norman aloper ('to run away; abduct'), probably from a West Germanic compound meaning 'run away.' The marriage sense developed from secretly fleeing with a lover. In modern use, elope can also mean choosing a deliberately private wedding without literal flight or family opposition.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images