el

See also: Appendix:Variations of "el"

Languages (64)

Translingual • English

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Aragonese • Aromanian • Asturian • Azerbaijani • Breton • Catalan • Chavacano • Cornish • Crimean Tatar • Czech • Dalmatian • Danish • Dena'ina • Dutch • Emilian • Esperanto • Fala • Franco-Provençal • Gagauz • Galician • Guinea-Bissau Creole • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ido • Indonesian • Istriot • Italian • Jamaican Creole • Kabuverdianu • Kabyle • Kaqchikel • Ladino • Latin • Latvian • Leonese • Lower Sorbian • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle Welsh • Mirandese • Mizo • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Occitan • Old English • Old French • Old Galician-Portuguese • Old Norse • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Romansh • Salar • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Ternate • Turkish • Uzbek • Venetan • Volapük • Welsh

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of Greek Ελληνικά (Elliniká) or abbreviation of Ancient Greek Ἑλληνική (Hellēnikḗ).

Symbol

el

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Greek.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Greek terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl/, [ɛɫ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old English el, from Latin el (the name of the letter L).

Alternative forms

• L
• ell

Noun

el (plural els)

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.
   • 1773 October, The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged:

     The word length, which contains only four sounds l e ng th, is usually spell'd thus, el ee en gee tee aitch.

Derived terms

• elpee

Translations

name of the letter L, l

• Arabic: إِل m (ʔel)
• Asturian: ele (ast)
• Bengali: এল (bn) (el)
• Bulgarian: ел m (el)
• Catalan: ela (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)

• Dutch: el (nl)
• Esperanto: lo (eo)
• Finnish: äl (fi), ällä (fi)
• French: elle (fr) m
• Galician: ele (gl) m
• Greek: ελ n (el)
• Hawaiian: lā
• Hindi: एल (hi) (el)
• Ido: le (io)
• Indonesian: el (id)
• Interlingua: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: eil, luis
• Italian: elle (it) m or f
• Japanese: エル (ja) (eru)
• Korean: 엘 (el)
• Latin: el (la)
• Malay: el (ms)
• Marathi: एल (el)
• Occitan: èla f
• Persian: ال (fa) (el)
• Polish: el (pl) n
• Portuguese: ele (pt) m
• Russian: эл (ru) n (el), эль (ru) n (elʹ)
• Spanish: ele (es) f
• Tagalog: el (tl), la (tl) (Abakada), ele (tl) (Abecedario alphabet)
• Thai: แอล (th) (ɛɛl)
• Turkish: le (tr)
• Vietnamese: e-lờ (vi), lờ (vi)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: el (cy) f

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• L

Noun

el (plural els)

2. (US) An elevated railway, especially for specific systems such as the metro in Chicago (informal)
   • 2012, Roger P. Roess, Gene Sansone, The Wheels That Drove New York, page 294:

     The main section of the Sixth Avenue El from Morris Street to Ninth Avenue and 53rd Street shut down on December 4, 1938.

Etymology 3

Shortening of eleven.

Numeral

el

1. The cardinal number occurring after dek and before do in a duodecimal system. Written ↋, decimal value 11.

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Spanish el.

Article

el

1. (informal, humorous, chiefly Internet slang) The (sometimes where "the" would not occur in normal English).
   • 2007, Richard Bachman, Blaze, page 125:

     " […] A sister of Joseph Gerard […] was found unconscious on the kitchen floor by the family cook early this morning. […] "
     […] What leads could they have, if the old lady was el zonko?

See also

• le (French borrowing)

Etymology 5

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

el (plural els)

1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter Л / л

Anagrams

• -le, LE, Le, LαE, le

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

el

1. him (direct object)

   Synonym: lo

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• elu

Etymology

From Latin ille, possibly through a Vulgar Latin *illus. Compare Romanian el, Megleno-Romanian iel.

Pronoun

el m (plural elj)

1. (third-person masculine singular pronoun, nominative form) he

   Synonym: nãs

Pronoun

el m

1. (long/stressed accusative form) him

Related terms

• ea/ia (feminine equivalent (third-person singular nominative))
• elj (masculine or mixed plural), eali (feminine plural)
• ãl/ul/lu (masculine singular accusative- short/unstressed form)
• (a) lui (masculine singular genitive and masculine singular dative- long/stressed form)
• ãlj/ilj/lji (masculine singular dative- short/unstressed form)

See also

• io/iou, mini (first-person singular)
• tu, tini (second-person singular)
• noi (first-person plural)
• voi (second-person plural)
• nãsh, elj (third-person (masculine or mixed) plural)

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Leonese el, elo, from Latin ille, illum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/ [el]

Article

el m sg (feminine la, neuter lo, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. (definite) the

Usage notes

• The article el contracts to l’ before a word beginning with a vowel or h: l'asturianu (the Asturian), l'hermanu (the brother)
• The article el contracts to ’l after a word that ends in a vowel, if the following word begins with a consonant.

Derived terms

• al
• col
• del
• nel
• pal
• pel
• pol
• sol

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ایل (ẹl), from Proto-Turkic *ēl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural ellər)

1. (somewhat poetic) people
2. (somewhat poetic) country, land
3. (somewhat poetic) tract, region, district, province

Declension

Declension of el

	singular	plural
nominative	el	ellər
definite accusative	eli	elləri
dative	elə	ellərə
locative	eldə	ellərdə
ablative	eldən	ellərdən
definite genitive	elin	ellərin

Possessive forms of el

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elim	ellərim
sənin (“your”)	elin	ellərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	eli	elləri
bizim (“our”)	elimiz	ellərimiz
sizin (“your”)	eliniz	elləriniz
onların (“their”)	eli or elləri	elləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elimi	ellərimi
sənin (“your”)	elini	ellərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	elini	ellərini
bizim (“our”)	elimizi	ellərimizi
sizin (“your”)	elinizi	ellərinizi
onların (“their”)	elini or ellərini	ellərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elimə	ellərimə
sənin (“your”)	elinə	ellərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	elinə	ellərinə
bizim (“our”)	elimizə	ellərimizə
sizin (“your”)	elinizə	ellərinizə
onların (“their”)	elinə or ellərinə	ellərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elimdə	ellərimdə
sənin (“your”)	elində	ellərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	elində	ellərində
bizim (“our”)	elimizdə	ellərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	elinizdə	ellərinizdə
onların (“their”)	elində or ellərində	ellərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elimdən	ellərimdən
sənin (“your”)	elindən	ellərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	elindən	ellərindən
bizim (“our”)	elimizdən	ellərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	elinizdən	ellərinizdən
onların (“their”)	elindən or ellərindən	ellərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	elimin	ellərimin
sənin (“your”)	elinin	ellərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	elinin	ellərinin
bizim (“our”)	elimizin	ellərimizin
sizin (“your”)	elinizin	ellərinizin
onların (“their”)	elinin or ellərinin	ellərinin

Derived terms

• el-oba

Breton

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Contraction

el

1. e (preposition “in”) + ul (indefinite article “a(n)”)
2. e (preposition “in”) + al (definite article “the”)

Catalan

Alternative forms

• es (salat) in Balearic dialects.
• lo (colloquial) in Northwestern dialects.

Etymology

From earlier lo, from Latin illum, from Latin ille. The initial e- was inserted as an epenthetic vowel after the unstressed -o had begun to be dropped.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /əl/, [əɫ]
  • Homophone: al (Eastern dialects)
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /el/

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Article

el m (feminine la, masculine plural els, feminine plural les)

1. the; definite article

   El pare i el fill ― The father and the son

2. neuter definite article used to make abstract nouns from adjectives; the; what, that which

   el bo i el dolent ― the good and the bad

   el que hem de fer ― what we have to do

Usage notes

• Before a word that begins with a vowel or silent h- followed by a vowel, the form l' is used.

See also

• en, masculine singular definite article for given names.

Pronoun

el (proclitic, contracted l', enclitic lo, contracted enclitic 'l)

1. him (direct object)

Usage notes

• el is the reinforced (reforçada) form of the pronoun. It is used before verbs beginning with a consonant.

  Ella el considerava estúpid. ― She regarded him as stupid.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Further reading

• “el”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “el”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “el” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “el”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish el (“masculine singular definite article; the”).

Article

el

1. direct marker for all nouns other than personal proper nouns

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish êl, eyl, eal, from Old Cornish ail, from Proto-Brythonic *angel, a borrowing from Latin angelus, from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos). Cognate with Breton ael, Welsh angel.

Noun

el m (plural eledh)

1. (religion) angel

Derived terms

• el esker (“shin”)
• elek (“angelic”)

References

• “el” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

el

1. hand, forearm
2. ell

Declension

Declension of el

nominative	el
genitive	elniñ
dative	elge
accusative	elni
locative	elde
ablative	elden

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛl]

Noun

el n (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

Further reading

• “el”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “el”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• lo

Etymology

From Latin ille, illud.

Article

el

1. the; masculine singular definite article

Related terms

• i
• la

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse elri (“alder”), cf. ǫlr (compare Icelandic elri, Swedish al, Norwegian Bokmål older), from Proto-Germanic *aluz, *alusō (compare English alder), variant of *alizō, *alisō (compare Dutch els, German Erle), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/, [ɛlˀ]

Noun

el c (singular definite ellen, plural indefinite elle)

1. alder

Inflection

Declension of el

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	el	ellen	elle	ellene
genitive	els	ellens	elles	ellenes

Etymology 2

Introduced in the 1940’s after Swedish el, abbreviation of elektricitet (“electricity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/, [ɛl]

Noun

el c (singular definite ellen, not used in plural form)

1. electricity

   Synonym: strøm

Dena'ina

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əl/

Noun

el (Inland)

1. alternative form of eł (“spruce branchlet”)

References

• Kari, James (2013), Denaʼina Topical Dictionary, Revised Edition, Alaska Native Language Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, page 47

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch elne, elle, from Old Dutch *elina, from Proto-West Germanic *alinu. Cognate with English ell, German Low German Ell, German Elle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: el
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Homophone: Ell

Noun

el c (plural ellen, diminutive elletje n)

1. (archaic) a unit of length corresponding to about 69 cm: ell, cubit

Derived terms

• elleboog
• ellepijp
• ellenlang

Descendants

• Negerhollands: el
• → Caribbean Javanese: élo
• → Sundanese: élo

Emilian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/
• Hyphenation: el

Pronoun

el (personal)

1. (nominative case, feminine) they
2. (accusative case, feminine) them

Alternative forms

• Becomes elj- before a vowel.
• Becomes -li when acting as an enclitic.

Related terms

Emilian personal pronouns (strong forms)

Number	Person		disjunctive (tonic)	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	reflexive	comitative (with)
singular	first		mè	a	me			mêg
	second		tè	et	te			têg
	third	m	ló	al		ge	se	sêg
		f	lê	la
plural	first	m	nuēter	a	se			nōsk
		f	nuētri
	second	m	vuēter	a	ve			vōsk
		f	vuētri
	third	m	lôr	i		ge	se	sêg
		f		el	li

Esperanto

Etymology

Obscure; may be derived from Latin ex (“out of”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: el

Preposition

el

1. made of

   Tio estas ĉemizo el silko ― This is a shirt made of silk.

2. from (of)

   Antonym: al

   El kie vi venis?
   Mi venis el Nov-Jorko.

   Where did you come from?
   I came from New York.

   • 1906, Louis de Beaufront, Grammaire et exercices de la langue internationale espéranto:

     Li estas la plej riĉa homo el la mondo.

     He is the richest man in the world.

   • 1906, Louis de Beaufront, Grammaire et exercices de la langue internationale espéranto:

     Li estas la malplej riĉa el ni.

     He is the least rich of us.

   • 2008, Mauro Nervi, “Rekomendo [Recommendation]”, in Geoffrey Sutton, Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto 1887–2007 (overall work in English), Mondial, →ISBN, page 3:

     La literatura memoro estas la kerno de kulturo: tial ĉiuj nacilingvaj literaturoj estas daŭre studataj el historiaj, estetikaj kaj filologiaj vidpunktoj.

     Literary memory is the core of culture: for this reason all national-language literatures are continually studied from the viewpoints of history, aesthetics and philosophy^[sic].

Derived terms

• eldoni
• eliri
• elkreski
• elpensi
• elŝuti
• eltrovi
• elvoki

Further reading

• “el”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “el”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Fala

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: el

Pronoun

el m sg (plural elis, feminine ela, feminine plural elas)

1. Third person singular masculine nominative pronoun; he

See also

Fala personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	first person		ei	me, -mi		mi
	second person		tú	te, -ti		ti
	third person	m	el	le, -li	uLV, oM	el
		f	ela		a	ela
plural	first person	common	nos	musL nusLV nos, -nusM		nos
		m	noshotrusM			noshotrusM
		f	noshotrasM			noshotrasM
	second person	common	vos	vusLV vos, -vusM		vos
		m	voshotrusM			voshotrusM
		f	voshotrasM			voshotrasM
	third person	m	elis	le, -li	usLV, osM	elis
		f	elas		as	elas
third person reflexive			—	se, -si		sí

Dialects:  ^L Lagarteiru   ^M Mañegu   ^V Valverdeñu

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 121

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illa.

Pronoun

el f (postpositive -el) (ORB, broad)

1. she, it (third-person singular feminine nominative)

See also

Franco-Provençal personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
singular	1st person		jo	mè			min
	2nd person		te	tè			tin
	3rd person	masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
		feminine	el	la	lyé
		neuter	o		y	—
		reflexive	—	sè
plural	1st person		nos				noutro
	2nd person		vos				voutro
	3rd person	masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
		feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
		reflexive	—	sè

¹ Disjunctive or object of a preposition.   ² Generally preceded by a definite article.

References

• elle [1] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• el in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Gagauz

Cyrillic		ел

el

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jel/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ال (el), from Proto-Turkic *elig. Compare Turkish el, Azerbaijani əl

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural ellär)

1. (anatomy) hand

Declension

Declension of el

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	el	ellär
definite accusative (belirtme)	eli	elleri
dative (yönelme)	elä	ellerä
locative (bulunma)	eldä	ellerdä
ablative (çıkma)	eldän	ellerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	elin	ellerin

Derived terms

• el eli yıkêêr
• el etmää
• el işi
• el koymaa
• el vermää
• eldä etmää
• eldiven
• ellemää
• ellik
• tez eldän iş tez olêr

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish یل (yẹl), from Proto-Turkic *yẹl. Compare Turkish and Azerbaijani yel.

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural ellär)

1. wind

   Synonyms: lüzgär, boran

2. storm

Declension

Declension of el

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	el	ellär
definite accusative (belirtme)	eli	elleri
dative (yönelme)	elä	ellerä
locative (bulunma)	eldä	ellerdä
ablative (çıkma)	eldän	ellerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	elin	ellerin

Derived terms

• el dermeni

Etymology 3

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ایل (ẹl), from Proto-Turkic *ēl. Compare Turkish el.

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural ellär)

1. stranger, outsider

Declension

Declension of el

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	el	ellär
definite accusative (belirtme)	eli	elleri
dative (yönelme)	elä	ellerä
locative (bulunma)	eldä	ellerdä
ablative (çıkma)	eldän	ellerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	elin	ellerin

Derived terms

• ne ellär duysun bizi, ne biz elleri

Further reading

• N. A Baskakov, editor (1972), “ел”, in Gagauzsko-Russko-Moldavskij Slovarʹ [Gagauz-Russian-Moldovan Dictionary], Moskva: Izdatelʹstvo Sovetskaja Enciklopedija, →ISBN, page 175
• Çebotar, Petri; Dron, Ion (2002), “el”, in Gagauzça-Rusça-Romınca Sözlük [Gagauz-Russian-Romanian Dictionary]‎^[2], Chișinău: Pontos Press, →ISBN, page 234
• Kopuşçu M. İ., Todorova S. A., Kiräkova T.İ., editors (2019), “el”, in Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 5-12, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN, page 61

Galician

Alternative forms

• ile, il
• ele (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

Proto-Italic *olnos

Old Latin olle

Latin ille

Galician el

Inherited from Latin ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Hyphenation: el

Pronoun

el m (accusative o, dative lle)

1. he
2. it (impersonal pronoun, optative subject of impersonal verbs)

   El chove ― It rains

3. it (optatively, can introduce a question)
   • 1864, Francisco Mirás, Compendio de gramática gallega-castellana, page 60:

     Gallego. —O peor son os trabucos que abranquen todos os anos que si non fora eso, inda eu estale si o pechaba no que puxen.
     Hacendado. -¿Pues qué, cuántos trabucos tiene V?
     Gallego. —Carasto, inda no me chejan os emprejos da Corte para pajálos.
     Hacendado. -Vaya V. al diablo con sus trabucos emprejos y lenguaje, que maldito entiendo palabra. A Dios amigo.
     Gallego. —El oieu? veña acó Señor, eu lle nomearei todo polo craro.

     Galician. "The worst part is the tributes they snatch every year; if not for them, I'm damned if I don't win it on what I bid!"
     Landlord [speaking Spanish and misunderstanding what he said]. "So, how many blunderbusses do you have?"
     Galician. "Jis! The cattle in my stable is not even enough to pay for them!
     Landlord. "Go to hell with your blunderbusses, emprejos and language, I can't understand a word!
     Galician. "[Anyone] Did you hear that? Sir, come here! I'll explain all clearly to you!"

     (the text is full of false friends for a Spanish speaker)

Usage notes

The accusative form o has variant forms lo and no. These alternative forms appear depending on the ending of the preceding word. The form lo is used when the preceding word ends in -r or -s. The no form is used when the preceding word ends in -u or a diphthong. These alternative forms are then suffixed to the preceding word.

The accusative also forms contractions when it immediately follows an indirect object pronoun. For example, dou che o contracts to doucho (“I gave it to you”).

Related terms

• ela
• elas
• eles

See also

Galician personal pronouns

number	person		nominative (subject)	accusative (direct object)	dative (indirect object)	prepositional	prepositional with con	non-declining
singular	first		eu	me		min	comigo	—
	second		ti	te	che	ti	contigo	vostede
	third	m	el	o (lo, no)	lle	el	con el	—
		f	ela	a (la, na)		ela	con ela	—
plural	first		nós nosoutros m nosoutras f	nos		nós	connosco	—
	second		vós vosoutros m vosoutras f	vos		vós	convosco	vostedes
	third	m	eles	os (los, nos)	lles	eles	con eles	—
		f	elas	as (las, nas)		elas	con elas	—
reflexive third / indefinite			—	se		si	consigo	—

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “el”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “el”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “el”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “el”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese ele. Cognate with Kabuverdianu el.

Pronoun

el

1. he, she (third person singular)

Hungarian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Adverb

el

1. off

   El a kezekkel! ― Hands off!

2. away
3. yes (used as an affirmative answer to a question containing a verb prefixed with el- or to emphasize a preceding statement, having the same value as the verb in question)

   A: Eladtátok a házat? - B: El. ― A: Did you sell the house? B: Yes.

Usage notes

This term may also be part of the split form of a verb prefixed with el-, occurring when the main verb does not follow the prefix directly. It can be interpreted only with the related verb form, irrespective of its position in the sentence, e.g. meg tudták volna nézni (“they could have seen it”, from megnéz). For verbs with this prefix, see el-; for an overview, Appendix:Hungarian verbal prefixes.

• Anna elment? Nem ment el. ― Has Anna left [gone away]? No, she has not.

Derived terms

Compound words

• eladdig
• elvégre

Interjection

el

1. (intransitive, drama) exit, exeunt; he/she leaves or they leave the scene or stage (stage direction for an actor or multiple actors)

   Antonym: jön (“s/he comes”)

See also

• ell

Further reading

• el in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• el in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).

Anagrams

• le

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛːl]
• Rhymes: -ɛːl

Verb

el

1. first-person singular present indicative of ala

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/, /ɛl/

Pronoun

el (plural eli, possessive elua, possessive plural elui)

1. apocopic form of elu; she, her

See also

Personal pronouns in Ido

		singular			plural
		nominative	possessive		nominative	possessive
			singular	plural		singular	plural
first person		me	mea	mei	ni	nia	nii
second person	formal	vu	vua	vui	vi	via	vii
	familiar	tu	tua	tui
third person	masculine	ilu, il	ilua	ilui	ili	ilia	ilii
	feminine	elu, el	elua	elui	eli	elia	elii
	neuter	olu, ol	olua	olui	oli	olia	olii
	common	lu	lua	lui	li	lia	lii
	reflexive	su	sua	sui	su	sua	sui
indefinite		onu, on	onua	onui	onu, on	onua	onui

• The possessive plurals are seldom used.
• The shortened forms are preferred.
• The pangendered forms are preferred to the gendered or neuter forms in most scenarios.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch el.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/, [ɛl]

Noun

èl (plural el-el)

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “el”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Istriot

Etymology 1

From Latin illum < ille.

Pronoun

el

1. he third-person singular masculine personal pronoun
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 128:

     Ch’in tu’l su’ fassulito el me metasse.

     That into his handkerchief he would put me.

Related terms

• gila

Etymology 2

From Latin ille.

Article

el m sg (feminine la)

1. the

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illum with deletion of second syllable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Hyphenation: él
• (stressed, determiner) IPA^(key): /ˈel/
  • Hyphenation: él
• (unstressed, article and contraction) IPA^(key): /el/

Article

el m sg

1. archaic, regional, and Rome form of il

Pronoun

el m

1. (rare, literary) apocopic form of ello

Contraction

el

1. (obsolete) contraction of e +‎ il: and the

Alternative forms

• e'l

Anagrams

• -le, LE, Le, le

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English hell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Noun

el

1. (religion) hell
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Matyu 5:29:

     Ef unu rait yai a mek unu sin, tier it out an dash it we! Aftaraal it beta fi luuz onggl wan badi paat, dan di wol a di badi get fling dong a el.

     If your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out and throw it away! After all, it is better to lose one body part than for the whole body to be thrown into hell.

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese ele.

Pronoun

el

1. he, she (third person singular)

Kabyle

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əl/

Verb

el (verbal noun ayla) (obsolete)

1. to have, own, possess

   Synonyms: sɛu, ɣur

2. to belong to

Usage notes

This verb's conjugation has fallen into general disuse by the 19th century, with only its past participle ilan surviving in various expressions. Its verbal noun, ayla (“possession”), remains in vigorous use.

References

• Dallet, Jean-Marie (1982), Dictionnaire kabyle-français: parler des At Mangellat, Algérie (in French), Paris, France

Kaqchikel

Verb

-el (intransitive)

1. to exit; to leave; to go out; to come out

Conjugation

Conjugation of el

	singular			plural
	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
present	yinel	yatel	nel	yojel	yixel	yeʼel
past	xinel	xatel	xel	xojel	xixel	xeʼel
future	xkinel	xkatel	xtel	xkojel	xkixel	xkeʼel
imperative/hortative	kinel	katel	tel	kojel	kixel	keʼel

References

• Brown, R. McKenna; Maxwell, Judith M.; Little, Walter E. (2006), ¿La ütz awäch?, page 214: “-el”
• Ixq'anil; Maxwell, Judith M.; Waqi'kan; Little, Walter E. (2006), Tijonïk Kaqchikel Oxlajuj Aj‎^[3], page 17: “-el”

Ladino

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/

Article

el (Hebrew spelling איל, plural los, feminine la)

1. the (masculine singular)

Pronoun

el (Hebrew spelling איל)

1. he, it

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɛɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛl]

Noun

el n or f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter L.

Usage notes

• Multiple Latin names for the letter L, l have been suggested. The most common is el or a syllabic l, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, lē, ll, əl, lə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?), which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιλλε (ille).

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

• “el”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

Latvian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

el m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter L/l.

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

Leonese

Etymology

From Latin ille.

Article

el m sg (feminine la, neuter lu, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. the (definite article)

Usage notes

• The prepositions a, de, pa, cun, en and pur contract with el, unless el is part of a proper noun.

  ‎a + ‎el → ‎al

  ‎de + ‎el → ‎del

  ‎pa + ‎el → ‎pal

  ‎cun + ‎el → ‎cul

  ‎en + ‎el → ‎nel

  ‎pur + ‎el → ‎pul

• The article el contracts to l' before a word beginning with a vowel or h:

  l'home ― the man

  fala l'home ― the man is speaking

• The article 'el contracts to 'l after a word that ends in a vowel, if the following word begins with a consonant.

  fala'l neñu ― the child is speaking

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Noun

el m inan

1. The name of the Latin script letter l/L.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) a, bej, cej, čet, ćej, dej, ej, ět, ef, gej, ha, cha, i, jot, ka, eł, el, em, en, ejn, o, pej, er, ejŕ, es, eš, śej, tej, u, wej, y, zet, žet, źej

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *elli, from Proto-West Germanic *alljas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/

Determiner

el

1. other, another

Adverb

el

1. else, otherwise
2. elsewhere

Further reading

• “el (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “el, els”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “el (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “el (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

Middle English

Alternative forms

• eel, ele, hele, iel, yele

Etymology

From Old English ǣl, from Proto-West Germanic *āl, from Proto-Germanic *ēlaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̝ːl/, /eːl/

Noun

el (plural eles)

1. eel

Related terms

• alger

Descendants

• English: eel
• Scots: eel
• Yola: eale

References

• “ēl(e, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 3 March 2019.

Middle Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːl/

Verb

el

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of mynet

Mirandese

Pronoun

el

1. he

Mizo

Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔel (“to challenge”).

Verb

el

1. to compete

Derived terms

• inelna

Etymology 2

Verb

el

1. to dress up for an occasion

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “el”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Swedish el.

Noun

el

1. short form of elektrisitet, elektrisk, elektro-, used mainly in compound words. It is treated as a noun rather than a prefix, in the same manner as Swedish.

Derived terms

• elbil
• elmotor

References

• “el” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Swedish el.

Noun

el n

1. short form of elektrisitet, elektrisk, elektro-, used mainly in compound words. It is treated as a noun rather than a prefix, in the same manner as Swedish.

Derived terms

• elbil
• elmotor

Etymology 2

From Old Norse él.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːl/

Noun

el n (definite singular elet, indefinite plural el, definite plural ela)

1. a local storm; rainshower
   • 1933, Hans Henrik Holm, Jonsoknatt:

     Din gjøyvande lengsel, Gjyvi, er lik vårsol i él.

     Your restless longing, Gjyvi, is like a spring-sun in the rain.

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

el

1. present tense of ala

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

el

1. present tense of elja

References

• “el” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin ille.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Pronoun

el

1. he (third-person singular subject pronoun)
2. it (third-person singular subject pronoun)

Old English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/
• Rhymes: -el

Noun

el m

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːl/
• Rhymes: -eːl

Noun

ēl m (Anglian, late Kentish)

1. alternative form of ǣl

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	ēl	ēlas
accusative	ēl	ēlas
genitive	ēles	ēla
dative	ēle	ēlum

Old French

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• enl (very rare)

Contraction

el

1. contraction of en +‎ le, literally “in the”
   • c. 1250, Marie de France, Equitan:

     m'est une anguisse el quer ferue, ki tut le cors me fet trembler

     Such a pain has pierced me in the heart, that it makes my whole body quiver

Etymology 2

From Latin alius.

Pronoun

el

1. something else
   • c. 1150, Thomas d'Angleterre, Le Roman de Tristan, Champion Classiques edition, →ISBN, page 94, lines 857–8:

     ne puet en sun cuer el penser
     fors ço sul: Tristran amer.

     she cannot in her heart think of anything else
     apart from one thing: to love Tristan.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Pronoun

el

1. apocopic form of ele
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 14 (facsimile):

     fugiu con el a Egipto. terra de Reẏ Faraon.

     ran away with him to Egypt, land of the Pharaoh king.

Old Norse

Verb

el

1. first-person singular active present indicative of ala

Polish

Etymology

Phonetic spelling of the letter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Syllabification: el

Noun

el n (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

Further reading

• “el”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ille. Akin to Catalan el and Spanish el. False cognate of Arabic ال (al-).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌɛw/ [ˌɛʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɛl/ [ˌɛɫ]

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: el

Article

el m sg

1. only used in el-rei: the

Further reading

• “el”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “el”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Alternative forms

• ел (el) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *illus, from Latin ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jel/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -el
• Hyphenation: el

Pronoun

el m (third-person singular, plural ei, feminine equivalent ea)

1. (nominative form) he

   Synonym: (polite form) dumnealui

Declension

Declension of el

	stressed	unstressed
nominative	el
accusative	el	îl
dative	lui	îi
genitive	lui
possessive forms
	singular	plural
masculine	său	săi
neuter		sale
feminine	sa
reflexive forms
	stressed	unstressed
accusative	sine	se
dative	sie, sieși	își

Pronoun

el m (stressed accusative form of el)

1. (direct object, preceded by preposition, such as "pe", "cu", "la", or "pentru") him

Related terms

• ea (third-person feminine singular)
• ei (third-person masculine plural)
• ele (third-person feminine plural)

See also

Romanian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		eu	noi
2nd person	plain	tu	voi
	semi-polite	dumneata	dumneavoastră
	polite	dumneavoastră
3rd person	familiar m	el	ei
	familiar f	ea	ele
	polite m	dumnealui	dumnealor
	polite f	dumneaei

Further reading

• “el”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Romansh

Etymology

From Latin ille.

Pronoun

el

1. he

Salar

Picture dictionary: poñ

poñ

1= baş 2= yüz 3= boyun 4= yağrı 5= köxrek 6= gindik 9= cücük 10–14= incik 10= san 11= düz, ağırçaq 12= çiñgirek, baldur 13= tox 14= ayaq 15–19= qol 16= düssek 19= el

Etymology

Cognate with Turkmen, Turkish el (“hand”), Azerbaijani əl, Chuvash алӑ (ală), etc.

Pronunciation

• (Xunhua, Hualong, Qinghai, Ili, Xinjiang) IPA^(key): /el/
• (Mengda, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): /en/

Noun

el (3rd person possessive ili, plural eller)

1. (anatomy) hand

   Synonym: oc

Declension

Declension of el

	singular	plural
nominative	el	eller
genitive	elniği	ellerniği
dative	ele	ellere
definite accusative	elni	ellerni
locative	elde	ellerde
ablative	elden	ellerden
instrumental	ella	ellerla
pronominal	elği	ellerği
indefinite article	el-or	eller-or
definite article	elcük	ellercük

Possessive declension of el

	nominative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilim	ilimler
siniği ("your")	iliñ	iliñler
aniği ("their")	ili	ililer
piserniği ("our")	ilimiz	ilimizler
selerniği ("your")	iliñiz	iliñizler
ularniği ("their")	ili	ililer
	accusative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilimni	ilimlerni
siniği ("your")	iliñni	iliñlerni
aniği ("their")	ilini	ililerni
piserniği ("our")	ilimizni	ilimizlerni
selerniği ("your")	iliñizni	iliñizlerni
ularniği ("their")	ilini	ililerni
	dative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilime	ilimlere
siniği ("your")	iliñe	iliñlere
aniği ("their")	iliğe	ililere
piserniği ("our")	ilimize	ilimizlere
selerniği ("your")	iliñize	iliñizlere
ularniği ("their")	iliğe	ililere
	locative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilimde	ilimlerde
siniği ("your")	iliñde	iliñlerde
aniği ("their")	ilide	ililerde
piserniği ("our")	ilimizde	ilimizlerde
selerniği ("your")	iliñizde	iliñizlerde
ularniği ("their")	ilide	ililerde
	ablative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilimden	ilimlerden
siniği ("your")	iliñden	iliñlerden
aniği ("their")	iliden	ililerden
piserniği ("our")	ilimizden	ilimizlerden
selerniği ("your")	iliñizden	iliñizlerden
ularniği ("their")	iliden	ililerden
	instrumental
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	ilimla	ilimlerla
siniği ("your")	iliñla	iliñlerla
aniği ("their")	ilila	ililerla
piserniği ("our")	ilimizla	ilimizlerla
selerniği ("your")	iliñizla	iliñizlerla
ularniği ("their")	ilila	ililerla

References

• Potanin, G.N. (1893), “эль”, in Тангутско-Тибетская окраина Китая и Центральная Монголия [Tangutsko-Tibetskaja okraina Kitaja i Centralʹnaja Mongolija] (in Russian), page 428
• Poyarkov, Alexei; Ladygin, Vasiliy (1893), “эль”, in “Салары. Этнографический очерк [Salary. Etnografičeskij očerk, The Salars: An Ethnographic Sketch]”, in Этнографическое ОбозрѢніе: Императорскаго Общества Любителей Естествознанія, Антропологіи и Этнографіи [Etnografičeskoje ObozrĚnije: Imperatorskago Obščestva Ljubitelej Jestestvoznanija, Antropologii i Etnografii, Ethnographical Review: Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography]‎^[5] (in Russian), Moscow: Publication of the Ethnographic Department, page 33
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1894), “ell”, in Diary of a journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891 and 1892, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, page ell
• 柴田 武 [Takeshi Shibata] (1946), “Seikaishô no Junka no Sarârugo ni tsuite [On the Salar Language of Xunhua, Qinghai]”, in The Tôyôgo Kenkyû, volume 1, Tokyo, pages 25-78
• Poppe, Nicholas (1953), “Remarks on The Salar Language”, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, volume 16, number 3/4, →DOI, pages 438–477
• Kakuk, S. (1962), “el”, in “Un vocabulaire Salar”, in Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae‎^[6], volume 14, number 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, →ISBN, pages 173-196
• Tenishev, Edhem (1976), “el”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow: Nauka, pages 323-324
• 林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985), “el”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[7], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 19
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002), “el”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[8], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 88
• Dwyer, Arienne M. (2007), “el”, in Salar: A Study in Inner Asian Language Contact Processes: Part I: Phonology‎^[9], 1st edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, pages 43, 87
• 阿伊草·张进锋 [Salar: Ayso Cañ Cinfen] (2008), 乌璐别格 [Salar: Ulubeğ], 鄭初陽 [Salar: Çuyañ Yebey oğlı Ceñ], editors, 撒拉尔谚语 [Salar: Salar İbret Sözler, Salar Proverbs]‎^[10], China Salar Youth League, page 12
• Ma, Chengjun; Han, Lianye; Ma, Weisheng (December 2010), “el”, in 米娜瓦尔·艾比布拉 [Minavar Abibra], editor, 撒维汉词典 [Sā-Wéi-Hàn cídiǎn, Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 99
• Ölmez, Mehmet (December 2012), “el”, in “The Easternmost Branch of the Oghuzs: Salars and Their Language”, in Türk Dili, volume 102, number 732, pages 38–43
• 马伟 [Ma Wei], 朝克 [Chaoke] (2014), “el”, in 撒拉语366条会话读本 [Salar 366 Conversation Reader]‎^[11], 1^st edition, 社会科学文献出版社 [Social Science Literature Press], →ISBN, page 108
• 马伟 [Ma Wei] (2016), “el”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages ​​- Salar Language Studies], 青海 [Qīnghǎi, Qinghai]: 青海师范大学 [Qinghai Normal University], unpublished finalized project manuscript (国家社会科学基金项目结项稿, 定稿; National Social Science Fund of China), page 107

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el/ [el]

  • Audio (Spain):

    (file)

  • Audio (Colombia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -el
• IPA^(key): /eɾ/ (Andalusia, before certain consonants)
  • Rhymes: -eɾ
• IPA^(key): /e/ (dialectal, rapid speech, except before vowels)
  • Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: el
• Homophone: él

Etymology 1

From Latin ille. False cognate of Arabic ال (al-).

Article

el (plural los, feminine la, feminine plural las, neuter lo)

1. masculine singular definite article; the
   • 2025 June 20, Randi Kaye and David von Blohn, “El ICE renueva acuerdo con el centro de detención que, según la agencia, no cumplía las normas”, in CNN en Español‎^[12]:

     En un correo electrónico, el ICE dijo a CNN que había determinado que Glades puede ayudar a “despejar la acumulación” de inmigrantes indocumentados en el país.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• The prepositions de and a contract with el, unless el is part of a proper noun.

  El libro del niño me enseñó sobre la oscilación de El Niño.

  The boy's book taught me about the oscillation of El Niño.

  Fuimos a El Salvador y le rezamos al Salvador.

  We went to El Salvador and prayed to the Savior.

• Spanish definite articles are used in some contexts where English uses possessive pronouns.

  Tengo las manos sucias.

  My hands are dirty.

  Me duele la pierna.

  My leg hurts.

• Spanish definite articles are used when talking about a whole group in general or abstract notions, unlike English ones.

  Los guepardos son el animal terrestre más veloz.

  Cheetahs are the fastest land animal.

  El amor es siempre paciente y amable.

  Love is always patient and kind.

• In Andalusia, definite articles are commonly used before people's names, for example:

  ¿Te has enterado de lo que le ha pasado a la Lucía?

  Did you hear about what happened to Lucía?

Derived terms

• el que
• el que sea

Related terms

• él
• le
• lo

Etymology 2

From Old Spanish ela, from Latin illa.

Article

el (feminine plural las)

1. feminine singular definite article used before nouns which start with a stressed /a/:

   el alma, las almas ― the soul, the souls

   el hacha, las hachas ― the axe, the axes

Further reading

• “el”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• le

Swedish

Etymology

A contraction of elektricitet or elektrisk, that must have taken place between 1920 and 1975. SAOB (letter E edited in 1921) does not mention this, but does mention the prefix elektro-. Lilla Focus (1961) mentions el- as a prefix, but not as a word of its own.

The use of el as a stand-alone word (not just a prefix) was discussed in Teknisk Tidskrift, 15 December 1934, referring to a proposal from "Fera", Föreningen för elektricitetens rationella användning, an association of electric power grid operators.

Man framhåller nämligen med bestämdhet, att "el" ej får betraktas som förkortning utan som en beteckning för allt som har med elektricitet att göra, avsedd att brukas enbart eller i sammansättningar som prefix eller suffix och aldrig tillsammans med punkt och bindestreck. Språkligt sett, kan väl ordet närmast betraktas som en ellips
Teknisk Tidskrift, 15 December 1934
Translation:
Indeed, it is firmly emphasized that "el" must not be regarded as an abbreviation but as a designation for everything related to electricity, intended for use solely or in combinations as a prefix or suffix, and never together with a period and hyphen. Linguistically, the word can be considered akin to an ellipsis.
Teknisk Tidskrift, 15 December 1934

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːl/
• Rhymes: -eːl

Noun

el c

1. electricity, electric current or power; clipping of elektricitet or elektrisk
   • 1957, used as a prefix, §14, Lag (1957:262) om allmän energiskatt

     elektrisk kraft som förbrukas för el-, gas-, värme- eller vattenförsörjning i andra kommuner

     electric power which is used for the supply of electricity, gas, heating or water in other municipalities

   • 1975, Håkan Winberg (m), speaking in the Riksdag on May 27 (protocol, page 264)

     Vidare är den del av marknaden som har den högsta betalningsförmågan, dvs. hushållen, inriktad på användning av el.

     Also the part of the market which has the highest purchasing power, i.e. the households, is set for the use of electricity.

   • 1980, Rune Torwald (c), speaking in the Riksdag on January 11 (protocol, page 46)

     När man använder så stor andel av elen till att värma upp bostäder som ju bara utnyttjas vintertid och inte på sommaren, så får man stora säsongvariationer.

     When using so large a portion of the electricity to heat homes, something which is only used in the winter and not in the summer, one will get large seasonal variations.

2. (school slang) short for el- och energiprogrammet

   Jag går el.

   I study at the electrical engineering programme

   (literally, “I go electrical.”)

Declension

Declension of el

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	el	els
	definite	elen	elens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Related terms

• elanvändning
• elavbrott
• elgitarr
• elkabel
• elkraft
• elmätare
• elnät
• elström
• elstängsel
• elsäkerhet
• elverk
• elöverföring
• elöverkänslig

References

• “el”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “el”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• le

Tagalog

Etymology

From English el, the English name of the letter L / l.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔel/ [ʔɛl]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: el

Noun

el (Baybayin spelling ᜁᜎ᜔)

1. the name of the Latin script letter L/l, in the Filipino alphabet

   Synonyms: (in the Abakada alphabet) la, (in the Abecedario) ele

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi

Further reading

• “el”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [(ʔ)el]

Verb

el

1. alternative form of eli (“to remember”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of el

		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		toel	foel	miel
2nd person		noel	niel
3rd person	masculine	oel	iel yoel (archaic)
	feminine	moel
	neuter	iel

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Turkish

bir el

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈel/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish ال (el), from Old Anatolian Turkish ال (el), from Proto-Turkic *elig (“hand”), may be related to Proto-Turkic *al- (“to take”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰠𐰏 (elig), Uzbek ilik, Turkmen el, Gagauz el, Salar el, Southern Altai элӱ (elü, “wide finger”), Chuvash алӑ (ală), etc.

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural eller)

1. hand
   • 2004, “Dursun Zaman”, in maNga, performed by maNga and Göksel:

     Her sabah doğan güneş / Bir sabah doğmaz oldu / Elleri ellerimden / Kayıp giden yıldız oldu / Gülünce ışık saçan / O gözler yaşla doldu / Ağlama duymaz artık / Bir varmış, bir yok oldu / Giderken bıraktığı / Bütün renkler siyah oldu / Üzülme anla artık / Belki de huzur buldu

     The sun that rises every morning / One day did not rise / Her hands slipped out of my hands / And turned into a shining star / She smiled and while spreading her light / Those eyes were filled with tears / Don’t cry, she won’t hear anymore / Once upon a time she lived / As she went away, all the colors / She left behind turned black / Don't be sad, understand / Maybe she found peace

2. possession

   elindeki her şeyi satmış ― he sold everything in his possession

3. round (stage of a sports competition)

   Her el sona kalan adam sensin.

   In every round you're the last man standing.

4. round (individual ammunition shell)

   İki el sıktı, ikisini de ıskaladı, sonra da bıçaklamaya çalıştı.

   He fired two rounds, whiffed both, and then he tried to knife him.

5. handle
6. (Samsun) because, cause

   onun elinden bir sürü şey çekti ― she suffered a lot because of him

Derived terms

• değirmen eli
• dört el ile
• dört elle
• el altında
• el altından
• el arabası
• el atmak
• el ayası
• el bağlamak
• el basmak
• el bıçkısı
• el bir etmek
• el birliği
• el bombası
• el bulmak
• el çabukluğu
• el çalmak
• el çekmek
• el dövüşü
• el ele
• el ele vermek
• el etek öpmek
• el etmek
• el geçirmek
• el işi
• el kaldırmak
• el karıştırmak
• el kesmek
• el kitabı
• el koymak
• el öpmek
• el pençe
• el pençe divan
• el sıkmak
• el sunmak
• el suyu
• el sürmek
• el şakası
• el teskeresi
• el uzatmak
• el vermek
• el vurmak
• el yazısı
• el yordamı
• el yumak
• elde
• elde etmek
• elde olmak
• elden bırakmak
• elden çıkarmak
• elden çıkmak
• elden düşmek
• elden gelmek
• elden komak
• elden koymak
• eldiven
• ele almak
• ele geçmek
• ele gelmek
• ele girmek
• ele vermek
• elense
• eli açık
• eli alışmak
• eli armut toplamak
• eli ayağı titremek
• eli bayraklı
• eli belde
• eli boş
• eli boş çıkmak
• eli boş gelmek
• eli değnekli
• eli ekmek tutmak
• eli kesmek
• eli pek
• eli silah tutmak
• eli varmak
• eli yordamlı
• elinde patlamak
• elinden gelme
• eliyle koymuş gibi
• ellemek
• elöpen
• elverişli
• elvermek
• havan eli
• iki eli böğründe kalmak
• iki eli yakasında olmak
• tez elden

proverbs involving "el"

• ağanın eli tutulmaz
• alet işler, el övünür
• az el aş kotarır, çok el iş kotarır
• el el ile, değirmen yel ile
• el elden kalmaz, dil dilden kalmaz
• el elden üstündür
• el eli yıkar, iki el yüzü

Etymology 2

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ایل (el), from Old Anatolian Turkish ایل (ẹl), from Proto-Turkic *ēl (“realm”). Doublet of il. Cognate with Old Turkic [script needed] (él), Kazakh ел (el), Azerbaijani el, etc.

Noun

el (definite accusative eli, plural eller)

1. country, homeland, province

   Synonyms: yurt, memleket

2. tribe
3. a foreign person
4. (collective) other people; foreigners, strangers
   1. any other person than oneself; others, other people
   2. any other person than the oneself and the people the spoken to
   3. any person that the one does not know or recognize, strangers, foreigners
   4. any person that is not a part of one's nation, tribe, family, clan etc.

   Synonym: el âlem

5. land, territory, region
6. (Uşak) city
7. (Mersin) residents of a certain place

Declension

Declension of el

singular plural nominative el eller definite accusative eli elleri dative ele ellere locative elde ellerde ablative elden ellerden genitive elin ellerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular elim ellerim 2nd singular elin ellerin 3rd singular eli elleri 1st plural elimiz ellerimiz 2nd plural eliniz elleriniz 3rd plural elleri elleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular elimi ellerimi 2nd singular elini ellerini 3rd singular elini ellerini 1st plural elimizi ellerimizi 2nd plural elinizi ellerinizi 3rd plural ellerini ellerini dative singular plural 1st singular elime ellerime 2nd singular eline ellerine 3rd singular eline ellerine 1st plural elimize ellerimize 2nd plural elinize ellerinize 3rd plural ellerine ellerine locative singular plural 1st singular elimde ellerimde 2nd singular elinde ellerinde 3rd singular elinde ellerinde 1st plural elimizde ellerimizde 2nd plural elinizde ellerinizde 3rd plural ellerinde ellerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular elimden ellerimden 2nd singular elinden ellerinden 3rd singular elinden ellerinden 1st plural elimizden ellerimizden 2nd plural elinizden ellerinizden 3rd plural ellerinden ellerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular elimin ellerimin 2nd singular elinin ellerinin 3rd singular elinin ellerinin 1st plural elimizin ellerimizin 2nd plural elinizin ellerinizin 3rd plural ellerinin ellerinin Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular elim ellerim 2nd singular elsin ellersin 3rd singular el eldir eller ellerdir 1st plural eliz elleriz 2nd plural elsiniz ellersiniz 3rd plural eller ellerdir

Derived terms

• el adamı
• el ağzıyla kuş tutmak
• el beğenmeze yer beğensin
• el elin aynasıdır
• el elin eşeğini türkü çağırarak arar
• el eline bakmak
• el gün
• el kapısı
• el kızı
• el oğlu
• el sikiyle gerdeğe girilmez
• el yazması
• elçi
• ele karışmak
• ele verir talkını, kendi yutar salkını
• elin ağzı torba değil ki büzesin
• eller elinde kalmak
• Rumeli

Further reading

• “el”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “el”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “el”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Tietze, Andreas (2009), “el”, in Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lügati [Historical and Etymological Dictionary of Turkish] (in Turkish), volume II, Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, page 578
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “il1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2132
• “el”, in Türkiye'de halk ağzından derleme sözlüğü [Compilation Dictionary of Popular Speech in Turkey] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1963–1982

Uzbek

Other scripts

Arabic	Afghan Uzbek	ایل
	Yangi Imlo	—
Cyrillic		эл
Latin		el

Etymology

Inherited from Chagatai ایل (ʾyl), from Proto-Turkic *ēl (“peace; country, people”).

Noun

el (plural ellar)

1. people, tribe
2. nation, country

Declension

Declension of el

	singular	plural
nominative	el	ellar
genitive	elning	ellarning
dative	elga	ellarga
definite accusative	elni	ellarni
locative	elda	ellarda
ablative	eldan	ellardan
similative	eldek	ellardek

Possessive forms of el

1st person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	elim	ellarim
genitive	elimning	ellarimning
dative	elimga	ellarimga
definite accusative	elimni	ellarimni
locative	elimda	ellarimda
ablative	elimdan	ellarimdan
similative	elimdek	ellarimdek
2nd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	eling	ellaring
genitive	elingning	ellaringning
dative	elingga	ellaringga
definite accusative	elingni	ellaringni
locative	elingda	ellaringda
ablative	elingdan	ellaringdan
similative	elingdek	ellaringdek
3rd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	eli	ellari
genitive	elining	ellarining
dative	eliga	ellariga
definite accusative	elini	ellarini
locative	elida	ellarida
ablative	elidan	ellaridan
similative	elidek	ellaridek
1st person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	elimiz	ellarimiz
genitive	elimizning	ellarimizning
dative	elimizga	ellarimizga
definite accusative	elimizni	ellarimizni
locative	elimizda	ellarimizda
ablative	elimizdan	ellarimizdan
similative	elimizdek	ellarimizdek
2nd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	elingiz	ellaringiz
genitive	elingizning	ellaringizning
dative	elingizga	ellaringizga
definite accusative	elingizni	ellaringizni
locative	elingizda	ellaringizda
ablative	elingizdan	ellaringizdan
similative	elingizdek	ellaringizdek
3rd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	eli	ellari
genitive	elining	ellarining
dative	eliga	ellariga
definite accusative	elini	ellarini
locative	elida	ellarida
ablative	elidan	ellaridan
similative	elidek	ellaridek

References

• Wiliam Dirks, Temur Davranov, Eduardo Real (2005), “el”, in Oʻzbekcha / Inglizcha Lugʻat‎^[13] (in Uzbek), The Central Asian Heritage Group, page 79

Venetan

Alternative forms

• al (Belluno)

Etymology

From Latin illum < ille.

Article

el m sg (plural i)

1. the

Related terms

• ła

Pronoun

el

1. he, she, it (used as an obligatory clitic pronoun following a verb)

   El can el magna i òsi. ― The dog (it) eats the bones.

Volapük

Article

el

1. the (used for all proper nouns and also foreign loanwords not yet assimilated into Volapük)

   El Karl binom ziom ela Katlin. ― Karl is Katlin's uncle.

Usage notes

• The article el is used to modify any kind of noun (proper or foreign) which is itself indeclinable in Volapük. Then, whenever that noun needs to be declined, the article el which modifies it is declined in its stead.

Declension

Declension of el

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	el	els
Genitive	ela	elas
Dative	ele	eles
Accusative	eli	elis
Predicative1	elu	elus
Vocative	o el	o els

1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

Derived terms

• hiel
• jiel

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Etymology 1

Noun

el f (plural eliau)

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i / i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u / u bedol / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• ell

Noun

el m

1. (obsolete, units of measure) ell

   Synonym: hirlath

Mutation

Mutated forms of el

radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
el	unchanged	unchanged	hel

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.