El Niño

noun

El Ni·​ño el-ˈnē-nyō 

plural El Niños

: an irregularly recurring flow of unusually warm surface waters from the Pacific Ocean toward and along the western coast of South America that prevents upwelling of nutrient-rich cold deep water and that disrupts typical regional and global weather patterns compare la niña

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

An active El Nino brought heavy rains to the event all week, including the closest-to-the-pin contest, where a strong storm chased spectators from that event. —Visual Editors, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024

The Economic Impact of El Niño Looking at the economic impact of the El Nino's weather pattern across the globe. —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

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, literally, the child (i.e., the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

El Niño

noun

El Ni·​ño el-ˈnē-nyō 

plural El Niños

: an irregularly occurring flow of unusually warm surface water along the western coast of South America that disrupts the normal regional and global weather patterns compare la niña

Etymology

Spanish, "the child" (referring to the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season