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ell

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ell¹

  • /ˈɛl/

Rhymes with -ɛl

Where it comes from

From Middle English elle, elne, from Old English eln (“the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger; a unit of measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *alinu, from Proto-Germanic *alinō, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l-én-eh₂, from *Heh₃l- (“elbow, forearm”).

Cognate with Dutch el (“ell”), German Low German Ell (“ell”), German Elle (“ell”), Swedish aln (“cubit; ell”), Icelandic alin (“cubit; ell”), Latin ulna (“forearm”).

noun ells

  1. historical A measure of length. An English ell was 1¼ yards (45 inches or 114 cm), a Scottish ell was about 37 inches (94 cm), a Flemish ell was ¾ yard (27 inches or 69 cm), while certain European ells were less than 50 cm. At certain times in the ice-mountains of Switzerland there happen cracks which have shewn the great thickness of the ice, as some of these cracks have measured three or four hundred ells deep.

ell²

  • /ˈɛl/

Rhymes with -ɛl

Where it comes from

From the name of the letter L (late 18th century).

noun ells · el

  1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l. (more commonly el) I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.
  2. An extension usually at right angles to one end of a building. I could hear them snapping and tearing around, and then one managed to get on the roof by jumping from the low ell.
  3. Something that is L-shaped.

ELL³

noun ELLs

  1. abbreviation, countable, uncountable Abbreviation of RNA polymerase II elongation factor: an enzyme found in Cajal bodies.
  2. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of English-language learner

Ell⁴

proper noun Ells

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A town and commune in Redange canton, Luxembourg.
  3. countable, uncountable A village in Leudal municipality, Limburg province, Netherlands.

noun Ells

  1. Alternative letter-case form of ell

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: five, corner, annex, alcove, addition, extension, wing, lle, ellwand, elwand, elvin, welsh yard, eild, ounceland, elven, easter

Translations

Every language

noun measure of cloth

Españolana, alna
Portuguêsvara
Françaisaune
DeutschElle
Русскийлокоть lokotʹ

noun extension of a building

Françaisaile

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Cite this
MLA

"ell." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ell. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ell. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ell

Chicago

"ell." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ell.

BibTeX
@misc{ell_2026,
  title = {ell},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ell},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}