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Definition of el capitan

el capitan

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• 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."

• Nearby Words

ejector
eke
el
el capitan
el limon
el paso
el salvador

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 Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/el-capitan
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