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

This El Nino, which formed only last month, already zipped past the weak stage and is now considered moderate with no indications of slowing its strengthening, the government forecast said. — Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 9 July 2026

There is very high confidence that El Nino will continue through early spring 2027. — ABC News, 9 July 2026

Getty Images The price of copper is poised to spike sharply higher as a powerful El Nino weather event develops in the Pacific Ocean which could trigger floods in Chile and Peru, two of world’s biggest copper producers. — Tim Treadgold, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

However, Ehsan’s team forecasts that this El Nino will peak a month or two earlier based on strong early signs from recent weeks. — Seth Borenstein, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026

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