'Laravel' is a prominent open-source PHP web framework, introduced by Taylor Otwell in 2011. It is tailored for creating web applications using the model-view-controller (MVC) pattern, and it stands out in the PHP framework community for its elegant syntax, rich features, and scalability.

Laravel excels in simplifying common web development tasks, such as routing, authentication, session handling, and caching, making it a potent and efficient tool for developers. The framework's advanced ORM (Object-Relational Mapping), Eloquent, provides a powerful yet user-friendly way to interact with databases.

A distinctive feature of Laravel is its intuitive, fluent API that covers a wide range of tasks, along with comprehensive support for essential functionalities like user authentication and authorization, which are straightforward to implement and adapt. Laravel also offers seamless integration with mail services and robust tools for queue management, job scheduling, and WebSocket communication.

With a focus on testing, Laravel includes built-in support for PHPUnit and is supported by a vibrant, active developer community. This community contributes to Laravel's extensive ecosystem of packages and extensions, further expanding its capabilities.

In conclusion, Laravel has been instrumental in streamlining the development of PHP web applications. Its broad range of features, ease of use, and strong community backing make it a top choice among PHP developers.