From Proto-Italic *gʷrātos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥H-tó-s, from *gʷerH- (“to welcome, greet, praise”).
Cognates include Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇā́ti, “to praise”) and गूर्त (gūrtá, “pleasing, agreeable, welcome”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti) and Old Prussian girtwei (“to praise”).