Nilus

See also: nilus and Nílus

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ̯.ləs/
• Rhymes: -aɪləs
• Hyphenation: Ni‧lus

Proper noun

Nilus

1. Obsolete form of Nile.
   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

     As looks the ſun through Nilus flowing ſtream,
     Or when the morning holds him in her armes.
     So lookes my Lordly loue, faire Tamburlaine: […]

   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VI.] The Iland Taprobane.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 129:

     But afterwards, for that the boates and veſſels uſed upon this ſea in the paſſage thither, were made and wound of papyr reeds like thoſe of the river Nilus, […]

Anagrams

• Linus, Sunil

Latin

Nīlus sense 1

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Νεῖλος (Neîlos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈniː.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈniː.lus]
• Hyphenation: Nī‧lus

Proper noun

Nīlus m sg (genitive Nīlī); second declension

2. the Nile (river)

Declension

Second-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Nīlus
genitive	Nīlī
dative	Nīlō
accusative	Nīlum
ablative	Nīlō
vocative	Nīle
locative	Nīlī

Derived terms

• Nīliacus
• Nīlicola
• Nīligena
• Nīlōticus
• Nīlōtis
• nīlus

References

• “Nilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Nilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Nilus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
• “Nilus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Nilus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• “Nilus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Old English

Etymology

From Latin Nīlus.

Proper noun

Nilus ?

1. The Nile (a river in Africa).
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Nilus sēo ēa hire ǣwielme is nēh þǣm clife þǣre Rēadan Sǣs; þēah sume men seċġen þæt hire ǣwielme sīe on westende Affrica nēh þām beorge Athlans, ⁊ þonne fol raðe þǣs sīe ēast irnende on þæt sond, ⁊ þonne besince eft on þæt sand, ⁊ þǣr nēh sīe eft flōwende up of þǣm sande, ⁊ þǣr wyrcð miċelne sǣ.

     The source of the River Nile is near the edge of the Red Sea, though some people say that its source is in the western end of Africa near the Atlas Mountains, and that it immediately flows east of the sands, and then sinks back down into the sand, and near there it flows up again from the sand, and there forms a great sea.