ell

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a former unit for measuring cloth, equal in England to 45 inches or about 1.14 metres

   The merchant measured three ells of wool for the coat.

2. 2
   noun

   an extension built at right angles to the main part of a building

   The kitchen occupied a narrow ell at the back of the farmhouse.

Simplified etymology

Ell is an Old English name for a variable unit of length, originally the distance from the elbow to the fingertips. It is related to the first element of elbow and descends from an Indo-European root that also underlies ulna.

The measure comes through Middle English eln from Old English eln, 'forearm,' and is related to Latin ulna and words for the elbow. The building sense is a later alteration of el, the name of the L-shaped letter.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary