also: オー・エル
female office worker; office lady
Abbreviation of 'office lady', referring to a female office worker, typically in a clerical or administrative role. The term is somewhat dated and can be considered sensitive or stereotypical; modern usage often prefers more neutral terms like 会社員 or 女性社員.
See also: OL
彼女は大手商社のＯＬとして働いている。
She works as an office lady at a major trading company.
最近は「ＯＬ」という言葉を使わない会社も
Abbreviation of 'overlap', used in technical or specialized contexts such as photography, printing, or scheduling. Rare standalone; usually part of compound terms.
See also: オーバーラップ
この印刷設定ではＯＬが発生しやすい。
Overlap tends to occur with these print settings.
orienteering
Abbreviation of 'orienteering', a navigation sport. Very rare; mostly encountered in niche outdoor or sports contexts.
See also: オリエンテーリング
週末にＯＬの大会があるらしい。
Apparently there's an orienteering competition this weekend.
My older sister is currently working as an OL at a company in Tokyo.
Recently, more companies are avoiding the term 'OL'.
彼女は大学卒業後、ＯＬとして働き始めた。
After graduating from university, she started working as an OL.
She says she wants to become an OL in the future.
サラリーマン traditionally refers to a male office worker, forming a gendered pair with ＯＬ, which refers to a female office worker.
OL (office lady) is a gendered, colloquial term for female office workers, while 事務員 is gender-neutral and describes the clerical role itself.
Explicitly syllabified reading, sometimes used in dictionaries or for clarity. Not a common written form.
Wasei-eigo (Japanese-made English) abbreviation of 'office lady'. The term emerged in the post-war era to describe women in clerical office roles. The other senses are direct abbreviations of English loanwords: 'overlap' and 'orienteering'.