Meanings
- organized crimeMara Salvatrucha, a criminal gang operating in some Salvadoran communities in Central and North America.
While MS-13 is not the only transnational gang this administration will target, we believe the following background information attributed as “information provided by the Justice Department” will be helpful: […]
2017 April 18, “DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FACT SHEET ON MS-13”, in United States Department of Justice, page 11 more example
The executive order specifically named Tren de Aragua and the Salvadoran MS-13 gang, citing their “campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally” as threats to “the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”
2025 January 31, Stefano Pozzebon, “Rubio and Bukele to discuss sending suspected gang members from US to El Salvador”, in CNN
Origin
Initialism of Mara Salvatrucha. The 13 stands for the letter M for Mexican Mafia.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
MS-13. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/MS-13
“MS-13.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/MS-13. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “MS-13,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/MS-13.
Source: MS-13 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.