From Proto-Balto-Slavic*girˀ-, from Proto-Indo-European*gʷerH-(“to welcome, greet, praise”). Cognates include Latin grātus(“welcome”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти(žrĭti, “to sacrifice”), Old Prussian girtwei(“to praise”) and Sanskrit गृणाति(gṛṇā́ti, “to praise”).