What does el mean?
An el is an elevated railroad — a passenger train running on track raised above street level on steel pillars, typically threading through dense city blocks. The word is a simple clipping of 'elevated railway' and emerged in late 19th-century America, when cities like New York and Chicago built these lines to move crowds above congested streets below. Today 'the el' survives most vividly in Chicago, where the elevated Loop encircles the central business district and gives the area its name. In everyday speech, riding the el evokes a distinctly urban experience: the rumble overhead, the shadowed sidewalks beneath the tracks. A separate, unrelated sense belongs to biblical scholarship: capitalized El is the ancient Semitic word for God, appearing throughout the Hebrew scriptures both alone and in compound names such as Israel ('strives with El') and Bethel ('house of El'). Context makes the two senses impossible to confuse.
An elevated railway, or a train operating on such a line, especially in Chicago.
"We caught the el at Belmont and rode it straight into the Loop."
Usually preceded by 'the' when referring to a specific city's system.
In biblical usage, the generic Semitic word for 'God' (capitalized El), found throughout the Hebrew scriptures.
"The name Bethel means 'house of El'."
Rarely pluralized since most cities had only one el system; the plural may refer to multiple elevated trains or lines.
"By the 1950s, most of the city's old els had been torn down."
Chicago's famous Loop got its name because it's a rectangle of el track that literally loops around downtown.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of el
The noun 'el' originated in late 19th-century American English as a spoken clipping of 'elevated railway', first applied to the steam-powered elevated lines built above Manhattan and later to Chicago's electric system. It remains a living colloquialism largely because of the Chicago Transit Authority, whose elevated lines are locally known simply as the El. Separately, El derives from the Proto-Semitic root for 'deity' and appears in Hebrew scripture as well as in Ugaritic texts, where El was the name of the chief god; it underlies many Hebrew proper names containing the element -el, such as Michael, Samuel, and Israel.
How el is actually used
Almost always used in American English, and most strongly associated with Chicago, whose elevated rail system is simply called 'the El'. New York once had extensive els but demolished most of them by mid-20th century. When referring to the biblical deity, it is capitalized and appears chiefly in scholarly or religious contexts.
Easily confused with el
'Ell' is an obsolete unit of measurement (about 45 inches) or an L-shaped building wing, whereas 'el' refers to an elevated urban railway.
Capitalized 'El' is the ancient Semitic word for God appearing in Hebrew scripture, while lowercase 'el' is the American term for an elevated railway.