ell
/ˈɛl/
ell noun: 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.
Noun (1)
ell (plural ells)
- 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.1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 51
- A homely proverb recognises the existence of a troublesome class of persons who, having an inch conceded them, will take an ell.1841, Charles Dickens, chapter XXX, in Barnaby Rudge
Noun (2)
ell (plural ells)
- 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.2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170
- 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.1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 4, in The Whisperer in Darkness
- Something that is L-shaped.
Proper noun capitalized: Ell
Ell (countable and uncountable, plural Ells)
- A surname.
- A town and commune in Redange canton, Luxembourg.
- A village in Leudal municipality, Limburg province, Netherlands.
Noun (3) capitalized: Ell
Ell (plural Ells)
- Alternative letter-case form of ell.
Noun (4) capitalized: ELL
ELL (countable and uncountable, plural ELLs)
- Abbreviation of RNA polymerase II elongation factor: an enzyme found in Cajal bodies.
- Initialism of English-language learner.
ell meaning in Bengali
Examples of ell in a sentence
- Cal shoots a nervous glance over her shoulder towards the back of the room. ‘’Kin’ ’ell, El!
- It is thirty ells long and has a mane on its neck.
- An extended digit is constrained to betanumeric characters, which are alphanumerics minus vowels and the letter 'l' (ell).
Forms of ell
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ells |
| alternative form | el |
| plural | Ells |
| plural | ELLs |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Ells |
Origin of ell
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”).
From the name of the letter L (late 18th century).
Words formed from ell
Phrases with ell
Words that rhyme with ell
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- hell
- hotel
- repel
- smell
- cartel
- dell
- pell
- quell
- as well
- au naturel
- dwell
- expel
- fell
- gel
- La Rochelle
- lol
- oversell
- stell
- wel
- ABDL
- dispel
- kell
- knell
- mell
- personnel
- quenelle
- snell
- undersell
- yell
- belle
- death knell
- del
- farewell
- flotel
- foretell
- gazelle
- impel
- mademoiselle
- marcel
- mel
- morell
- Moselle
- motel
- NFL
- overswell
- propel
- pucelle
- rappel
Questions about ell
- What does ell mean?
- Ell means 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.
- What is ell in Bengali?
- Ell in Bengali is েল. See Ell meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is ell?
- Ell can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce ell?
- Ell is pronounced /ˈɛl/.
- What is the plural of ell?
- The plural of ell is ells.
Words near ell in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ell (page history and authors); Ell (page history and authors); ELL (page history and authors); ell (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ell.wav.
Cite this entry: “ell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.