ell

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/
• 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-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 for cloth. An English ell was 1+¹⁄₄ yards (45 inches), whereas a Scottish ell measured only about 37 inches and a Flemish ell was ³⁄₄ yard (27 inches).

Translations

measure of cloth

• Czech: loket (cs) m
• Danish: alen c
• Faroese: alin f
• French: aune (fr) f
• German: Elle (de) f

• Hungarian: rőf
• Norwegian: alen (no) n or n pl
• Portuguese: vara (pt) f
• Swedish: aln (sv) c

Etymology 2

From the name of the letter L

Noun

ell (plural ells)

1. (rare) The name of the Latin-script letter L.
2. An extension usually at right angles to one end of a building.
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 4:

     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.

Translations

extension of a building

• Czech: přístavek (cs) m
• French: aile (fr) f

• Swedish: flygel (sv) c

something L-shaped

Anagrams

• LEL, lel

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin ille, attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈeʎ/
• 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.

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Estonian

Noun

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

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

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Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛlː/

Noun

ell n (genitive singular els, plural ell)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter 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

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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.

Declension

declension of ell

n-s	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

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Võro

Noun

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

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

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.