What does ell mean?
An ell is a historical unit of length once widely used across Europe for measuring cloth, typically equal to about 45 inches (roughly 114 centimeters) in England, though its value varied considerably by region and trade. The word derives from Old English "eln," meaning forearm, since the measure originally reflected the distance from the elbow to the tip of the fingers — a fact it shares with the related word "elbow." By the medieval period the ell was standardized for textile commerce, and phrases like "give him an inch and he'll take an ell" preserve its memory in modern English. Beyond measurement, an ell can also mean an extension built at right angles to the main body of a house, forming an L shape. Today the term survives mainly in historical, architectural, and literary contexts rather than everyday speech.
A former English unit of length used mainly for measuring cloth, equal to about 45 inches (approximately 114 centimeters).
"In Chaucer's day, fine woolens were traded by the ell."
Now archaic; appears mainly in historical texts and literature.
An extension of a building constructed at right angles to the main section, giving it an L shape.
"The old Cape Cod house gained a bedroom when they added an ell on the north side."
Common in North American architectural and real estate vocabulary.
Regular plural; used both for multiple units of length and for multiple building extensions.
"The inventory listed several bolts of silk, each forty ells long."
The word 'ell' and the word 'elbow' come from the same root — because the ell was literally measured from the elbow to the fingertips.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ell
The word "ell" comes from Old English "eln," meaning forearm or cubit, tracing back through Proto-Germanic roots that also produced German "Elle" and Dutch "el." The underlying Indo-European root, meaning forearm or elbow, likewise gave Latin "ulna" (the forearm bone) and contributed to English "elbow" (literally "arm-bend"). In medieval England the ell was fixed by statute as a cloth measure of 45 inches, while longer ells were used elsewhere in Europe, such as the Flemish ell of about 27 inches and the longer French ell. Its use declined with the adoption of the yard and metric measures, leaving it today as a chiefly historical and literary term.
Related word forms
How ell is actually used
The measurement sense is now largely historical, encountered mainly in discussions of textiles, medieval commerce, and older literature; it should be marked as archaic in modern writing. The architectural sense (an L-shaped building extension) remains current, especially in North American regional and historical contexts.
Easily confused with ell
"Ell" is a former unit of length or an L-shaped structure, while "el" is most commonly a name for the letter L itself or for elevated urban rail lines in American usage.