Νεῖλος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the noun νεῖλος (neîlos, “river valley”), possibly from Semitic root naḥal. Compare Proto-Semitic *nahar- (“river”). The Egyptian name for it was ḥꜥpj.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /nêː.los/ → /ˈni.los/ → /ˈni.los/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nêː.los/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈni.los/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈni.los/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈni.los/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈni.los/

Proper noun

Νεῖλος • (Neîlos) m (genitive Νείλου); second declension

1. the river Nile
   • c. 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 338

Declension

Second declension of ὁ Νεῖλος; τοῦ Νείλου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Νεῖλος ho Neîlos
Genitive	τοῦ Νείλου toû Neílou
Dative	τῷ Νείλῳ tōî Neílōi
Accusative	τὸν Νεῖλον tòn Neîlon
Vocative	Νεῖλε Neîle
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Νειλαιεύς (Neilaieús)
• Νειλαῖος (Neilaîos)
• Νειλοβροχέω (Neilobrokhéō)
• Νειλογενής (Neilogenḗs)
• Νειλοθερής (Neilotherḗs)
• Νειλοκᾰλᾰ́μη (Neilokălắmē)
• Νειλομέτρῐον (Neilométrĭon)
• Νειλόρῠτος (Neilórŭtos)
• Νειλοσκοπεῖον (Neiloskopeîon)
• Νειλωῐ̈́ς (Neilōĭ̈́s)
• Νειλῷος (Neilōîos)
• Νειλώτης (Neilṓtēs)
• Νειλῶτις (Neilôtis)

Descendants

• Albanian: Nili
• Arabic: النِّيل (an-nīl)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܢܝܠܘܣ (Nīlōs)

  Aramaic: נִילוֹס (Nîlôs)

• Catalan: Nil
• Dutch: Nijl
• English: Nile
• French: Nil
• German: Nil
• Greek: Νείλος (Neílos)
• Hebrew: נילוס
• Italian: Nilo
• Latin: Nīlus
• Persian: نیل (nil)
• Polish: Nil
• Portuguese: Nilo
• Russian: Нил (Nil)
• Sicilian: Nilu
• Spanish: Nilo
• Turkish: Nil

Further reading

• “Νεῖλος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Νεῖλος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Νεῖλος”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,018