Great Scotland Yard is a street in Westminster, London, connecting Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall. By the 16th century, this "yard", which was then a series of open courtyards within the Palace of Whitehall, was fronted by buildings used by diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland. Over time the land was divided into Great Scotland Yard, Middle Scotland Yard and Little Scotland Yard. In the 19th century, it was a street and open space, which was the location of a public entrance to the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, causing the name "Scotland Yard" to become synonymous with the police service.

Although the etymology is not certain, according to a 1964 article in The New York Times, the name derives from buildings that accommodated the diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Scottish kings when they visited the English court – in effect, acting as the Scottish embassy, although such an institution was not formalized. Scotland Yard was certainly built and so-named by 1515, as Henry VIII's sister, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, was lodged there.

By the 17th century, the yard housed government buildings and residences for English civil servants. The architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren lived there, as did the poet John Milton from 1649 to 1651, during the Commonwealth of England under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Towards the end of the 17th century, the district was already associated with prominence and prestige; for example in the 1690s in his satirical A Tale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift claimed the regard of "my worthy brethren and friends at Will's Coffee-house, and Gresham College, and Warwick Lane, and Moorfields, and Scotland Yard, and Westminster Hall, and Guildhall; in short, to all inhabitants and retainers whatsoever, either in court, or church, or camp, or city, or country...".

In the 19th century, the Metropolitan Police Service, the original Metropolitan Police Commissioner's office at 4 Whitehall Place, had its public entrance on Great Scotland Yard. An 1862 map of Westminster shows the location. Over time, Scotland Yard was used generally as a metonym for the police headquarters.

Richard Horwood's 1799 map of London shows Great Scotland Yard on the eastern side of Whitehall, opposite the Admiralty. Below it are two streets that are culs-de-sac: Middle Scotland Yard, where Whitehall Place is today, and Lower Scotland Yard, entered from Middle Scotland Yard. Lower Scotland Yard was where the War Office building was erected in 1906, but was, according to the 1862 map, renamed Middle Scotland Yard when Whitehall Place, originally a cul-de-sac, took the place of the original Middle Scotland Yard.

The Clarence public house, named after the Duke of Clarence, dates from 1896. It was originally attached to the opposite corner of Great Scotland Yard by an archway. The archway was removed during the 1908 redevelopment of Great Scotland Yard, and the end of the building was refaced with slightly different coloured bricks.

Since 1953, The Civil Service Club has been based in the Old Fire House at numbers 13–15, and is a social club for current and former members of the Civil Service.

3–5 Great Scotland Yard is now a five-star Hyatt luxury hotel located on Great Scotland Yard Road in Westminster. It has a very long history as it sits on the previous site of the Ministry of Defence Library, but was built in 1906 as the Central London Recruiting Office. The hotel has 151 rooms with 15 suites and a stand-alone townhouse located at 1 Great Scotland Yard. The Edwardian townhouse has its own private entrance and has two bedrooms across five floors. The hotel also contains four bars and restaurants and a gym.