ell

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

ell, n. [AS. eln; akin to D. el, elle, G. elle, OHG. elina, Icel. alin, Dan. alen, Sw. aln, Goth. alenia, L. ulna elbow, ell, Gr. elbow. Cf. Elbow, Alnage.].

 A measure for cloth; -- now rarely used. It is of different lengths in different countries; the English ell being 45 inches, the Dutch or Flemish ell 27, the Scotch about 37.  [1913 Webster]

ell, n. 

 See L.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ell, n. hist. a former measure of length, about 45 inches.

Etymology

OE eln, rel. to L ulna: see ULNA

THESAURUS

ell

L, addition, angle, annex, apex, arm, bend, bifurcation, bight, block, cant, chevron, coin, corner, crank, crook, crotchet, deflection, dogleg, elbow, extension, fork, furcation, hook, inflection, knee, nook, point, quoin, swerve, veer, vertex, wing, zag, zig, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

ell

Length

N length, longitude, span, mileage, distance, line, bar, rule, stripe, streak, spoke, radius, lengthening, prolongation, production, protraction, tension, tensure, extension, line, nail, inch, hand, palm, foot, cubit, yard, ell, fathom, rood, pole, furlong, mile, league, chain, link, arpent, handbreadth, jornada, kos, vara, astronomical unit, AU, light- year, parsec, nanometer, nm, micron, micrometer, millimicron, millimeter, mm, centimeter, cm, meter, kilometer, km, pedometer, perambulator, scale, long, longsome, lengthy, wiredrawn, outstretched, lengthened, sesquipedalian, interminable, no end of, macrocolous, linear, lineal, longitudinal, oblong, as long as my arm, as long as today and tomorrow, unshortened &c (shorten), lengthwise, at length, longitudinally, endlong, along, tandem, in a line, in perspective, from end to end, from stem to stern, from head to foot, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, from top to toe, fore and aft.