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
Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2023
The switch from La Nina in 2022 to El Nino conditions in 2023 will likely also have a major impact on water cycles around the world, the researchers said.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2023
Though El Nino is playing a part, climate change has a bigger footprint in this warmth, Buontempo said.
—Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2023
Fall may have just begun, but meteorologists are already looking at the upcoming winter season's forecast with the help of El Nino.
—Max Golembo, ABC News, 25 Sep. 2023
The increase in weather disasters is consistent with what climate scientists have long been saying, along with a possible boost from a natural El Nino, University of Arizona climate scientist Katharine Jacobs said.
—Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2023
Mahamud said the climate crisis and this year’s El Nino weather pattern – which brings warmer, wetter weather to parts of the world – are worsening the problem.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 7 Sep. 2023
In January 1993, considered one of the milder El Nino years, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base shut down after 11 consecutive days of rain to deal with water 15 feet deep on the air station and parts of Vandegrift Boulevard.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Sep. 2023
Usually an El Nino, which started earlier this year, adds extra heat to global temperatures but more so in its second year.
—Jamey Keaten, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2023
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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.
Word History
Spanish, literally, the child (i.e., the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season
1896, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“El Niño.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/El%20Ni%C3%B1o. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.
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Kids Definition
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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