Etymology

El Niño

Today it means: An invasion of warm water into the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru and Ecuador, the positive phase of the multi-year ENSO cycle, which causes changes in local and regional climate. Full definition →

Spanish El Niño
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Spanish · borrowed fromEl Niño
  2. English todayEl Niño

From Spanish El Niño (literally “The Little Boy”), used by South American fishermen in the 17th century, referring to the Christ child, as the phenomenon is observed around Christmas time.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.