See Elmo in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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"text": "MING. About his name. Oscar. Asians always pick out the most curious and most discarded English names from books and TV. Like Cornelius. Elmo. Wellington."
}
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"(derogatory or humorous) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk."
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"word": "Phony Stark"
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"ref": "2012, Frank Heppner, Railroads of Rhode Island: Shaping the Ocean State's Railways, History Press:",
"text": "The Esmond Mills made baby blankets and, in a stroke of marketing genius, published a little book in 1924 designed to be read aloud to children. Called The Tale of Bunny Esmond, it was about an adorable bunny that was always cold until somebody wrapped him in a Bunny Esmond blanket. By a strange coincidence, Esmond Mills made a baby blanket that had Bunny's image printed on it. Bunny Esmond was the Elmo of his day. The Esmond blankets were softer than most, and in 1943, the author would have killed with his tiny fists anyone who tried to take his Bunny Esmond blanket away from him.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A character who is irritating to many but very popular with children, especially a character who joined a show late in its run."
],
"id": "en-Elmo-en-noun-awUm8EII"
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɛlmoʊ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Elmo.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1b/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"US"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Elmo",
"Sesame Street"
],
"word": "Elmo"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English proper nouns",
"English terms derived from German",
"English terms derived from Italian",
"English terms derived from fiction",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 4 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Arabic translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Korean translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"en:Elon Musk",
"en:Fictional characters",
"en:Individuals",
"en:Nicknames for individuals"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "St. Elmo's fire"
}
],
"etymology_number": "1",
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "it",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Italian",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "de",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "German",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From an Italian contraction of Erasmo, cognate with Erasmus. Also a German short form of Elmar.\n* By folk etymology seen as a short form of Elmer.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "Elmo",
"name": "en-proper noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "name",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English given names",
"English male given names",
"English male given names from Italian"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1996 Chay Yew, A Language of Their Own, Two Plays, Grove/Atlantic Inc.",
"text": "MING. About his name. Oscar. Asians always pick out the most curious and most discarded English names from books and TV. Like Cornelius. Elmo. Wellington."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A male given name from Italian."
],
"links": [
[
"given name",
"given name"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Cities in Missouri, USA",
"en:Cities in the United States",
"en:Places in Missouri, USA",
"en:Places in the United States"
],
"glosses": [
"A city in Missouri."
],
"links": [
[
"city",
"city"
],
[
"Missouri",
"Missouri#English"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Places in Texas, USA",
"en:Places in the United States",
"en:Unincorporated communities in Texas, USA"
],
"glosses": [
"An unincorporated community in Texas."
],
"links": [
[
"unincorporated community",
"unincorporated community"
],
[
"Texas",
"Texas#English"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Places in Utah, USA",
"en:Places in the United States",
"en:Towns in Utah, USA",
"en:Towns in the United States"
],
"glosses": [
"A town in Utah."
],
"links": [
[
"town",
"town"
],
[
"Utah",
"Utah#English"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Places in Wisconsin, USA",
"en:Places in the United States",
"en:Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin, USA"
],
"glosses": [
"An unincorporated community in Wisconsin."
],
"links": [
[
"unincorporated community",
"unincorporated community"
],
[
"Wisconsin",
"Wisconsin#English"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English derogatory terms",
"English humorous terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"Hot words older than two years"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
36,
40
]
],
"ref": "2022 December 12, marie_cast (@marie_cast@toad.social), Mastodon:",
"text": "Twitter was far from perfect before Elmo happened to it but it’s a total shitshow now!",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
33,
37
]
],
"ref": "2023 February 8, Jim Stewartson (@jimstewartson@toad.social), Mastodon:",
"text": "It is certainly conceivable that Elmo’s ragtag of leftover desperate engineers put out a feature without properly testing it. 😂",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
42,
46
]
],
"ref": "2023 March 19, Alice (@alicek@mas.to), Mastodon:",
"text": "Incredible how low Twitter has sunk since Elmo fired the grownups.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"nickname",
"nickname#English"
],
[
"South Africa",
"South Africa#English"
],
[
"Elon Musk",
"w:Elon Musk"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(derogatory or humorous) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Apartheid Clyde"
},
{
"word": "Elongated Muskrat"
},
{
"word": "Phony Stark"
}
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"humorous"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɛlmoʊ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Elmo.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1b/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"US"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"lang_code": "ar",
"roman": "ʔilmū",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "إِلْمُو"
},
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"lang_code": "ar",
"roman": "ʔalmū",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "أَلْمُو"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "Āi'ěrmò",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "埃爾莫 /埃尔莫"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "Āi'ěrmó",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "埃爾摩 /埃尔摩"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "Elmo"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "Erumo",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "エルモ"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "Elmo",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "엘모"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "male given name",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Elmo"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "male given name",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Telmo"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "Elmo",
"sense": "male given name",
"word": "Элмо"
}
],
"word": "Elmo"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from fiction",
"Pages with 4 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"en:Elon Musk",
"en:Fictional characters",
"en:Individuals",
"en:Nicknames for individuals"
],
"etymology_number": "2",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Elmos",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "Elmo (plural Elmos)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English genericized trademarks",
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Education",
"en:Law"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
73,
95
]
],
"ref": "1998 April 21, Joan M. Whitworth, quoting Dr. Kern (pseudonymous), “Looking at Distance Learning through Both Ends of the Camera”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), ERIC:",
"text": "Someone had to tell me when the paper was positioned correctly under the elmo (document camera).",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
41,
45
]
],
"ref": "2009, Kate Popejoy, “New Outcomes: Learning Improvement in Mathematics Integrating Technology - NO LIMIT! An Enhancing Education through Technology Project. Final Report: Years Five and Six (2005-2007)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), ERIC:",
"text": "Students bring their math work under the Elmo to share with other students to discuss their thoughts.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
166,
170
]
],
"ref": "2011, Sally A. Spencer, “Universal Design for Learning: Assistance for Teachers in Today's Inclusive Classrooms”, in Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, ERIC:",
"text": "The teacher can ask students to categorize the new information on the graphic organizer as they go through the text and the video, and then model this activity on an Elmo or overhead projector during the lesson, thus providing another means of visual support",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
175,
181
]
],
"ref": "2010s, “Presenting Evidence”, in Clerk Services, United States District Court for the Central District of California:",
"text": "Courtrooms in the United States District Court for the Central District of California have DVD/VCR equipment and an Electronic Evidence Presenter (sometimes referred to as an \"ELMO\") for attorneys to use when presenting evidence at trial or evidentiary hearings.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
52,
56
],
[
52,
99
],
[
145,
149
],
[
145,
153
],
[
283,
287
]
],
"ref": "2015 September 8, Robert Hilson, John Facciola, “Judge Facciola: I'm not in the business of supporting an industry”, in Logikcull, Logik:",
"text": "You know, in the courtroom, I used to have a little ELMO (an electronic evidence presenter) machine and there is absolutely nothing simpler than ELMO-ing. You put in the piece of paper and hit a button and the image is projected. But I can't tell you how many lawyers approached the ELMO as if they were approaching a cobra!",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A document camera."
],
"links": [
[
"Wikipedia",
"Wikipedia"
],
[
"Elmo (company)",
"w:Elmo (company)"
],
[
"education",
"education"
],
[
"law",
"law#English"
],
[
"genericized trademark",
"genericized trademark"
],
[
"document camera",
"document camera"
]
],
"qualifier": "genericized trademark",
"raw_glosses": [
"(education, law, genericized trademark) A document camera."
],
"topics": [
"education",
"law"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɛlmoʊ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Elmo.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1b/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"US"
]
}
],
"word": "Elmo"
}
{
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from fiction",
"Pages with 4 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"en:Elon Musk",
"en:Fictional characters",
"en:Individuals",
"en:Nicknames for individuals"
],
"etymology_number": "3",
"etymology_text": "From the character Elmo on Sesame Street.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Elmos",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "Elmo (plural Elmos)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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18,
22
]
],
"ref": "2025 June 6, anonymous author, “Jeff Sokol is the Elmo of To Catch a Predator”, in reddit.com:",
"text": "Jeff Sokol is the Elmo of To Catch a Predator",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
37,
41
]
],
"ref": "2012 July 13, Esther Inglis-Arkell, “10 Robots With Good Reasons to Rise Up Against Humanity”, in Gizmodo, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2026:",
"text": "That little upended trash can is the Elmo of Star Wars. He’s inexplicably popular despite being intensely irritating.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
402,
406
]
],
"ref": "2012, Frank Heppner, Railroads of Rhode Island: Shaping the Ocean State's Railways, History Press:",
"text": "The Esmond Mills made baby blankets and, in a stroke of marketing genius, published a little book in 1924 designed to be read aloud to children. Called The Tale of Bunny Esmond, it was about an adorable bunny that was always cold until somebody wrapped him in a Bunny Esmond blanket. By a strange coincidence, Esmond Mills made a baby blanket that had Bunny's image printed on it. Bunny Esmond was the Elmo of his day. The Esmond blankets were softer than most, and in 1943, the author would have killed with his tiny fists anyone who tried to take his Bunny Esmond blanket away from him.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A character who is irritating to many but very popular with children, especially a character who joined a show late in its run."
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɛlmoʊ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Elmo.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1b/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-Elmo.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"US"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Elmo",
"Sesame Street"
],
"word": "Elmo"
}
Download raw JSONL data for Elmo meaning in English (12.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). 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.