El Niño

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See also: El Nino

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Spanish El Niño (literally The Little Boy), used by South American fishermen in the 17th century, referring to the Christ child, as the phenomenon is observed around Christmas time.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɛl ˈniːn.joʊ/
  • (file)

Proper noun[edit]

El Niño (plural El Niños)

  1. An invasion of warm water into the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru and Ecuador, the positive phase of the multi-year ENSO cycle, which causes changes in local and regional climate.
    • 2007 May 23, Houston Chronicle:
      Additionally, scientists aren’t expecting to be surprised again by El Niño, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that tends to dampen Atlantic hurricane activity.
    • 2020 July 23, Abrahm Lustgarten, “The Great Climate Migration”, in New York Times[2]:
      The odd weather phenomenon that many blame for the suffering here — the drought and sudden storm pattern known as El Niño — is expected to become more frequent as the planet warms.
    • 2023 July 12, Catrin Einhorn, Elena Shao, “How Hot Is the Sea Off Florida Right Now? Think 90s Fahrenheit.”, in The New York Times[3], →ISSN:
      In part, that’s because the planet is entering a natural climate phenomenon known as El Niño, which typically brings warmer oceans. But now, El Niño is coming on top of long-term warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Antonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “El Niño and La Niña, Explained”, in The New York Times[1], 2023-07-18, →ISSN

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Cebuano[edit]

Noun[edit]

El Niño

  1. (climatology) El Niño

Quotations[edit]

For quotations using this term, see Citations:El Niño.

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Spanish El Niño.

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

El Niño m

  1. (meteorology) El Niño

Related terms[edit]

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish El Niño.

Pronunciation[edit]

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˌɛwˈnĩ.ɲu/ [ˌɛʊ̯ˈnĩ.j̃u]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˌɛwˈni.ɲo/ [ˌɛʊ̯ˈni.ɲo]
 
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˌɛlˈni.ɲu/ [ˌɛɫˈni.ɲu]
    • (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˌɛ.liˈni.ɲu/

Proper noun[edit]

El Niño m (plural El Niños)

  1. (meteorology) El Niño (a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon)

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /el ˈniɲo/ [el ˈni.ɲo]
  • Syllabification: El Ni‧ño

Proper noun[edit]

El Niño m

  1. the Christ child
  2. (climatology) El Niño (ocean current)

Usage notes[edit]

  • As a proper noun named after a proper noun, the El Niño ocean current is preceded by the uncontracted particles a and de rather than using al and del:
    El libro del niño me enseñó sobre la oscilación de El Niño.
    The boy's book taught me about the El Niño oscillation.

Turkish[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

El Niño (definite accusative El Niño'yu, plural El Niño'lar)

  1. (meteorology) El Niño (ocean current)