| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| El Niño |
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| SYLLABICATION: | El Ni·ño |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  n n y |
| NOUN: | A warming of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to 12 years when upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water does not occur. It causes die-offs of plankton and fish and affects Pacific jet stream winds, altering storm tracks and creating unusual weather patterns in various parts of the world. | | ETYMOLOGY: | American Spanish, from Spanish, the Christ child (from its onset being around Christmastide) : el, the (from Latin ille; see al-1 in Appendix I) + niño, child (from Old Spanish ninno, from Vulgar Latin *n nnus).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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