Elopement is a term that is often used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, sometimes involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting married without parental approval. An elopement is contrasted with an abduction (e.g., a bride kidnapping), in which either the bride or groom has not consented, or a shotgun wedding in which the parents of one (prototypically the bride's) coerce both into marriage.

Increasingly, the use of the term elopement has broadened from its traditional meaning. In North America and Europe, it has become common to refer to small weddings, with no or very few guests in attendance, as an elopement, regardless of whether or not the marriage is conducted secretively. Social media has contributed to this broadening of the definition, as a new sub-sect of wedding vendors have begun catering their services primarily to couples who choose to elope (have a small wedding).

The term elopement is sometimes used in its original, more general sense of escape or flight (e.g., an escape from a psychiatric institution). Controversially, in modern times, elopement is sometimes applied to any small, inexpensive wedding, even when it is performed with parental foreknowledge.

In addition, the term elopement (or wandering) is used in psychiatric hospitals to refer to a patient with dementia leaving the psychiatric unit without authorization.