What does elope mean?
To elope is to run away secretly in order to get married, usually without parental consent and often without the elaborate trappings of a conventional wedding. The classic image is of two lovers slipping off under cover of night — historically to Gretna Green in Scotland, today frequently to Las Vegas, a courthouse, or a scenic destination for a small, private ceremony. The word comes from the Anglo-Dutch 'ontlopen', meaning to run away or escape, and its original English sense was simply to flee or abscond; over time usage settled almost exclusively on the romantic sense. While eloping once carried a whiff of scandal and family disgrace, modern connotations are far gentler: many couples now choose elopement deliberately, valuing intimacy, spontaneity, and low cost over a large formal wedding. Related forms include the noun 'elopement' and the agent noun 'eloper'.
verbTo run away secretly with a lover in order to get married, typically without parental consent or against family opposition. More generally, to escape from one's home or usual surroundings.
- To run away secretly with a lover in order to marry without parental consent or public ceremony.
- (Less common) To flee or escape from confinement, duty, or an unpleasant situation; to slip away.
"Rather than endure another year of her father's objections, the couple decided to elope to Las Vegas."
"The couple eloped at dawn, leaving nothing but a note on the kitchen table."
"Tired of city life, she joked that they should elope to a cabin in the mountains."
Elope once meant simply 'to run away' — a wife could even 'elope from her husband' — before romance narrowed it to secret weddings.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of elope
Elope entered English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, borrowed from the Anglo-Dutch 'ontlopen', formed from the prefix meaning 'away' plus 'lopen', 'to run'. Its earliest English uses meant simply to flee, escape, or wander off — one could elope from prison or even from a spouse — before the meaning narrowed by the eighteenth century to running away secretly to marry. It shares this Germanic 'run' root with the Dutch and German verbs for running and, more distantly in spirit, with the rare English verb 'interlope', to intrude.
Related word forms
How elope is actually used
Elope is a regular verb (elopes, eloped, eloping). The dominant modern sense is romantic — a secret marriage, often with a small ceremony in a scenic destination such as Las Vegas, Scotland's Gretna Green, or a national park. In recent decades the word has shed much of its old scandalous connotation: 'destination elopements' are now often deliberate, intimate choices rather than acts of defiance, so calling a wedding an elopement can signal intimacy rather than shame.
Easily confused with elope
'Interlope' means to intrude into someone's territory or business (as in 'interloper'), whereas 'elope' means to run away secretly to marry.