An archaic or dialectal past tense of 'greet' meaning to weep, cry out, or make a grating sound.
From Old English 'grǽtan' (to weep, cry), related to 'grate' (to scrape harshly). The term has Germanic roots and evolved into multiple meanings related to harsh sounds.
The word 'grat' shows how 'greet' once meant to cry or wail—completely different from our modern 'hello'—and many old poems use it for dramatic weeping scenes that would confuse modern readers thinking it means a friendly greeting!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.