El Niño
noun
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Each year around Christmas time, a warm equatorial current flows southward along the coast of Peru. In the 19th century, Peruvian fisherman named that annual current "El Niño" in honor of the Christ child (el niño means "the child" in Spanish). Later, when scientists noted that in some years this warm current flow is more intense than usual, they adopted the name and applied it to that more potent but erratic climatic phenomenon. Now El Niño is used almost exclusively for the severe episodes rather than for the annual ones to which it was originally applied.
Examples of El Niño in a Sentence
JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
In contrast, the outgoing El Nino pattern usually helps suppress Atlantic hurricane activity, experts say.
—Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 14 June 2024
But this year, countries have received higher than average rainfall due to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
—Emmanuel Igunza, NPR, 10 May 2024
In Zimbabwe, where the El Nino phenomenon has worsened a drought, small-scale farmer James Tshuma has lost hope of harvesting anything from his fields.
—Farai Mutsaka, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2024
The ongoing El Nino, a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that increases wind shear over the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, has brought higher-than-average seasonal rainfall to East Africa.
—Emma Ogao, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2024
The government declared an energy emergency due to historically low levels of reservoirs amid an aggressive El Nino climate phenomenon.
—Reuters, NBC News, 19 Apr. 2024
The El Nino effect — which carries warm air from the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean across the U.S. — is largely to blame for the warmth.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2024
While the latter could be good for keeping wildfires in check in the spring and summer, the warmer winters (particularly in conjunction with the current El Nino event) are contributing to drought conditions.
—David Clarey, Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'El Niño.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near El Niño
Cite this Entry
“El Niño.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/El%20Ni%C3%B1o. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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El Niño
noun
Spanish, "the child" (referring to the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season
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