Nilotis

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Νειλῶτις (Neilôtis), feminine of Νειλώτης (Neilṓtēs).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /niːˈloː.tis/, [niːˈɫ̪oːt̪ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /niˈlo.tis/, [niˈlɔːt̪is]

Adjective

Nīlōtis (genitive Nīlōtidis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. (rare) Nilotic; belonging to the Nile
   • 61 CE – 65 CE, Lucan, Pharsalia 10.142:

     candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo, / quod Nilotis acus conpressum pectine Serum / solvit et extenso laxavit stamina velo.

   • 86 CE – 103 CE, Martial, Epigrammata 10.6.7:

     Quando eques et picti tunica Nilotide Mauri / Ibitis, et populi vox erit una 'Venit'?

     • 1993 translation by D. R. Shackleton Bailey

       When shall the cavalry ride and the painted Moors in their tunics of Nile, and one voice of the people be heard: “He comes.”

   • c. 430 CE – c. 489 CE, Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistolae 8.12:

     et post haec portum Alingonis tam piger calcas, ac si tibi nunc esset ad limitem Danuvinum contra incursaces Massagetas proficiscendum, vel si nunc etiam tuae navi stagna Nilotidis aquae per indigenas formidata crocodillos transfretarentur

   • 1494, Angelo Poliziano, Silvae :

     Alter Alexandri nilotidas abnegat arces
     Exosus natale solum, tumidamque colosso
     Solis et irriguam pluvio Rhodon expetit auro.

   • c. 1480 – 1490, Faustino Perisauli, De triumpho stultitiae :

     Reddiderant olim celebrem Nilotida Memphim
     Ardua Pyramidum moles grandesque colossi,
     At modo nulla vides operis vestigia tanti

Declension

Third-declension adjective, feminine only.

	singular	plural
nominative	Nīlōtis	Nīlōtidēs Nīlōtides
genitive	Nīlōtidis Nīlōtidos	Nīlōtidum
dative	Nīlōtidī	Nīlōtidibus
accusative	Nīlōtidem Nīlōtida	Nīlōtidēs Nīlōtidas
ablative	Nīlōtide	Nīlōtidibus
vocative	Nīlōtis	Nīlōtidēs Nīlōtides

Only used in the feminine. Only the nominative singular Nīlōtis and ablative singular Nīlōtide are attested in Classical Latin.

Synonyms

• Nīliacus
• Nīlōticus

References

• “Nīlus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Nīlōtis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.