El

See also: Appendix:Variations of "el"

Translingual

Symbol

El

1. (metrology) Symbol for exaliter (exalitre), an SI unit of fluid measure equal to 10¹⁸ liters (litres).

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/, [ɛɫ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

From Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl).

Proper noun

El

1. Any of several major ancient Near East deities, including the supreme god of the Canaanite religion, but especially the supreme Hebrew God.
   • 1956, Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 9:

     […] who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated, […]

Related terms

• Eloah, Elohim

Etymology 2

Clipping of elevated.

Proper noun

El (plural Els)

2. (transport, slang) Any one of several specific elevated railways.

   The Washington Street El was torn down in 1987.

   • 1955 July, “The Last Elevated Line in New York”, in Railway Magazine, page 444:

     Known colloquially as the "El," the elevated lines constituted the earliest attempt to remove urban passenger traffic from the streets.

Related terms

• L

Etymology 3

Proper noun

El

1. A unisex given name, often used as a nickname.
   • 2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 8 June 2019:

     Ever since El Martinez started asking to be called by the gender-neutral pronouns “they/them” in the ninth grade, they have fielded skepticism in a variety of forms and from a multitude of sources about what it means to identify as nonbinary.

Anagrams

• -le, LE, Le, LαE, le

Tocharian B

Etymology

Possibly from an Uyghur word meaning "stem". (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

El ?

1. an unknown-gender given name

Further reading

• Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “El”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 103