El Capitan

American  

[el kap-i-tan] / ɛl ˌkæp ɪˈtæn /

noun

1. a mountain in E California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: precipice that rises over 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) above Yosemite Valley.

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El Capitan British  

/ ɛl ˌkapɪˈtæn /

noun

1. a mountain in E central California, in the Sierra Nevada: a monolith with a precipice rising over 1100 m (3600 ft) above the floor of the Yosemite Valley. Height: 2306 m (7564 ft)

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Example Sentences

The researchers even created a tiny version of Yosemite's El Capitan.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

El Capitan, with its 3,000-foot-tall rock face, isn’t one of the areas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

His historic 2017 ascent of El Capitan without a rope was documented in the film Free Solo, which won an Academy Award.

From BBC • Jan. 24, 2026

Alex Honnold, the rock climber who famously scaled Yosemite’s El Capitan without ropes, will try his hand at a 1,667-foot skyscraper in a spectacle aired live on Netflix.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

Nixon, finally, defended himself in a masterful speech delivered live on television from the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith