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Definition of el capitan
el capitan
• noun
1
American A massive, sheer vertical granite monolith located in Yosemite National Park in California, world-renowned as a premier destination for big-wall rock climbing.
Example
"Many elite rock climbers spend years training in order to free climb the sheer vertical face of El Capitan."
2
The twelfth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop operating system, named in honor of the famous Californian rock formation.
Example
"She had to upgrade her computer's operating system from Yosemite to El Capitan to run the latest software."
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of El capitan. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 17, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/el%20capitan