Nilotis

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) 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
   • 86 CE – 103 CE, Martial, Epigrammata 10.6.7:

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

   • Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Pharsalia 10.142:

     candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo, / quod Nilotis acus conpressum pectine Serum / soluit et extenso laxauit stamina uelo.

Declension

Only used in the feminine, only attested in the nominative singular Nīlōtis and ablative singular Nilotide in Classical Latin. From the root Nilotid-, the genitive singular can be inferred to be *Nīlōtidis (attested postclassically in Sidonius Apollinaris), the dative singular *Nīlōtidī; the accusative singular would be *Nīlōtida if inflected as in Greek and *Nīlōtidem if Latinized.

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.