"El" meaning in English

See El in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

IPA: /ɛl/, [ɛɫ] Audio: en-us-el.ogg , en-uk-l.ogg
Rhymes: -ɛl Etymology: From Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl). Etymology templates: {{der|en|hbo|אֵל|tr=ʾēl}} Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl) Head templates: {{en-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. Related terms: Eloah, Elohim
    Sense id: en-El-en-name-CNLAxLyT
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Proper name

IPA: /ɛl/, [ɛɫ] Audio: en-us-el.ogg , en-uk-l.ogg Forms: Els [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛl Etymology: Clipping of elevated. Etymology templates: {{clipping|en|elevated}} Clipping of elevated Head templates: {{en-proper-noun|s}} El (plural Els)
  1. (transport, slang) Any one of several specific elevated railways. Wikidata QID: Q1601555 Tags: slang Related terms: L
    Sense id: en-El-en-name-en:Q1601555 Categories (other): Transport, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 29 63 8 Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 29 52 19 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 30 59 11 Topics: transport
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Proper name

IPA: /ɛl/, [ɛɫ] Audio: en-us-el.ogg , en-uk-l.ogg
Rhymes: -ɛl Head templates: {{en-prop}} El
  1. A unisex given name, often used as a nickname.
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hbo",
        "3": "אֵל",
        "tr": "ʾēl"
      },
      "expansion": "Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "El",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              46,
              48
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1956, Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 9:",
          "text": "[…]who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,[…]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of several major ancient Near East deities, including the supreme god of the Canaanite religion, but especially the supreme Hebrew God."
      ],
      "id": "en-El-en-name-CNLAxLyT",
      "links": [
        [
          "Near East",
          "Near East"
        ],
        [
          "deities",
          "deity"
        ],
        [
          "supreme",
          "supreme"
        ],
        [
          "Canaanite",
          "Canaanite"
        ],
        [
          "religion",
          "religion"
        ],
        [
          "Hebrew",
          "Hebrew"
        ],
        [
          "God",
          "God"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Eloah"
        },
        {
          "word": "Elohim"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "elevated"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of elevated",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of elevated.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Els",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "El (plural Els)",
      "name": "en-proper-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Transport",
          "orig": "en:Transport",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 63 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 52 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "30 59 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              24
            ]
          ],
          "text": "The Washington Street El was torn down in 1987.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1955 July, “The Last Elevated Line in New York”, in Railway Magazine, page 444:",
          "text": "Known colloquially as the \"El,\" the elevated lines constituted the earliest attempt to remove urban passenger traffic from the streets.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any one of several specific elevated railways."
      ],
      "id": "en-El-en-name-en:Q1601555",
      "links": [
        [
          "transport",
          "transport"
        ],
        [
          "elevated railway",
          "elevated railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transport, slang) Any one of several specific elevated railways."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "L"
        }
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q1601555"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "transport"
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q1601555"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "El",
      "name": "en-prop"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English female given names",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English given names",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English male given names",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English unisex given names",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              11,
              13
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A unisex given name, often used as a nickname."
      ],
      "id": "en-El-en-name-MNnicpWO",
      "links": [
        [
          "given name",
          "given name"
        ],
        [
          "nickname",
          "nickname"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English terms derived from Biblical Hebrew",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hbo",
        "3": "אֵל",
        "tr": "ʾēl"
      },
      "expansion": "Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Biblical Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "El",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Eloah"
    },
    {
      "word": "Elohim"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              46,
              48
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1956, Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 9:",
          "text": "[…]who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,[…]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of several major ancient Near East deities, including the supreme god of the Canaanite religion, but especially the supreme Hebrew God."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Near East",
          "Near East"
        ],
        [
          "deities",
          "deity"
        ],
        [
          "supreme",
          "supreme"
        ],
        [
          "Canaanite",
          "Canaanite"
        ],
        [
          "religion",
          "religion"
        ],
        [
          "Hebrew",
          "Hebrew"
        ],
        [
          "God",
          "God"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "elevated"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of elevated",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of elevated.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Els",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "El (plural Els)",
      "name": "en-proper-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "L"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Transport"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              24
            ]
          ],
          "text": "The Washington Street El was torn down in 1987.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1955 July, “The Last Elevated Line in New York”, in Railway Magazine, page 444:",
          "text": "Known colloquially as the \"El,\" the elevated lines constituted the earliest attempt to remove urban passenger traffic from the streets.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any one of several specific elevated railways."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "transport",
          "transport"
        ],
        [
          "elevated railway",
          "elevated railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transport, slang) Any one of several specific elevated railways."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q1601555"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "transport"
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q1601555"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛl/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "El",
      "name": "en-prop"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English female given names",
        "English given names",
        "English male given names",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English unisex given names"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              11,
              13
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A unisex given name, often used as a nickname."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "given name",
          "given name"
        ],
        [
          "nickname",
          "nickname"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɛl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ɛɫ]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-el.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/59/En-us-el.ogg/En-us-el.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/En-us-el.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-l.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg/En-uk-l.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/En-uk-l.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "El"
}

Download raw JSONL data for El meaning in English (5.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.