Etymograph

English

Greta

Greta comes from German Greta, and goes back to Margarete ‘Margaret’.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentMargarete‘Margaret’
  2. German, derivedc. 1650–presentMargareta
  3. German, derivedc. 1650–presentGreta
  4. Swedishmodernsame form
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2015same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentMargarete‘Margaret’
  2. German, derivedc. 1650–presentMargareta
  3. German, derivedc. 1650–presentGreta
  4. Swedishmodernsame form
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2015same form

Earliest quotation: 2015, Janice Dickson, Herbert Peppard: The Eternal Man: “Herb and Greta poured through “name” books and the…”

Every English word from German Margarete

Another origin of Greta

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-‘to grind, to rub’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrewd-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*greutą‘grit’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350grjót‘coarse stones, rubble’
  5. EnglishtodayGreta

Today it means

name A female given name from Ancient Greek.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / German Margarete / Greta

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