ell

See also: Ell, ELL, êll, 'e'll, and -ell

Translingual

Symbol

ell

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2/T & ISO 639-3 language code for Greek.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

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

ell (plural 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.
   • 1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 51:

     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.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, chapter XXX, in Barnaby Rudge:

     A homely proverb recognises the existence of a troublesome class of persons who, having an inch conceded them, will take an ell.

   • 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 19:

     Berkhyas is described as being a mountain in size, his face black, his body covered with hair, his neck like that of a dragon, two boar's tusks from his mouth, his eyes wells of blood, his hair bristling like needles, his height 140 ells, his breadth 17, pigeons nestling in his snaky locks.

   • 1910, Henry James, The Finer Grain:

     If he had imputed to them conditions it was all his own doing: it came from his inveterate habit of abysmal imputation, the snatching of the ell wherever the inch peeped out, without which where would have been the tolerability of life?

Derived terms

• give them an inch and they'll take an ell

Translations

measure of cloth

• Czech: loket (cs) m
• Danish: alen c
• Dutch: el (nl) c
• Faroese: alin f
• Finnish: kyynärä (fi)
• French: aune (fr) f
• German: Elle (de) f
• Hungarian: rőf (hu)
• Ingrian: kyynärä
• Macedonian: лакт m (lakt), ла́кот m (lákot)
• Norwegian: alen (no) n or n pl
• Portuguese: vara (pt) f
• Russian: локоть (ru) m (lokotʹ)
• Spanish: ana (es) f, alna (es) f
• Swedish: aln (sv) c
• Turkish: arşın (tr)

Etymology 2

From the name of the letter L.

Noun

ell (plural ells)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter L/l. (more commonly el)
   • 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

     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.
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 4, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

     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.

Alternative forms

• el

Derived terms

• effell

Translations

extension of a building

• Czech: přístavek (cs) m
• French: aile (fr) f
• Swedish: flygel (sv) c

something L-shaped

Anagrams

• LEL, lel

Asturian

Article

ell m sg (feminine lla, neuter llo, masculine plural llos, feminine plural lles)

1. (Juan Junquera's 1843 Orthography) Obsolete spelling of el.

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin ille. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈeʎ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eʎ

Pronoun

ell (plural ells)

1. he

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

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

• “ell” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ell” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ell” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Estonian

Noun

ell (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

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

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛlː/

Noun

ell n (genitive singular els, plural ell)

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

Declension

n9	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ell	ellið	ell	ellini
Accusative	ell	ellið	ell	ellini
Dative	elli	ellinum	ellum	ellunum
Genitive	els	elsins	ella	ellanna

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) bókstavur; a / fyrra a, á, be, de, edd, e, eff, ge, há, i / fyrra i, í / fyrra í, jodd, ká, ell, emm, enn, o, ó, pe, err, ess, te, u, ú, ve, seinna i, seinna í, seinna a, ø

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛlː]
• Rhymes: -ɛlː

Noun

ell

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

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	ell	ellek
accusative	ellet	elleket
dative	ellnek	elleknek
instrumental	ellel	ellekkel
causal-final	ellért	ellekért
translative	ellé	ellekké
terminative	ellig	ellekig
essive-formal	ellként	ellekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	ellben	ellekben
superessive	ellen	elleken
adessive	ellnél	elleknél
illative	ellbe	ellekbe
sublative	ellre	ellekre
allative	ellhez	ellekhez
elative	ellből	ellekből
delative	ellről	ellekről
ablative	elltől	ellektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	ellé	elleké
non-attributive possessive - plural	elléi	ellekéi

Possessive forms of ell
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	ellem	elljeim
2nd person sing.	elled	elljeid
3rd person sing.	ellje	elljei
1st person plural	ellünk	elljeink
2nd person plural	elletek	elljeitek
3rd person plural	elljük	elljeik

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) betű; a, á, bé, cé, csé, dé, dzé, dzsé, e, é, eff, gé, gyé, há, i, í, jé, ká, ell, ellipszilon / elly / ejj, emm, enn, enny, o, ó, ö, ő, pé, kú, err, ess, essz, té, tyé, u, ú, ü, ű, vé, dupla vé / vevé, iksz, ipszilon, zé, zsé. (See also: Latin script letters.)

Further reading

• l in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• ell, redirecting to ellik and l 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 2024).

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛtl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtl

Noun

ell n (genitive singular ells, nominative plural ell)

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

Declension

Declension of ell (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ell	ellið	ell	ellin
accusative	ell	ellið	ell	ellin
dative	elli	ellinu	ellum	ellunum
genitive	ells	ellsins	ella	ellanna

Võro

Noun

ell (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

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

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɬ/

Adjective

ell

1. Soft mutation of gell.

Mutation

Mutated forms of gell

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gell	ell	ngell	unchanged

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