I. (ˈ)nī|läd.]ik, -ät], ]ēk\ adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Latin niloticus of the Nile, from nilotis, feminine adjective (from Greek neilōtis, from Neilos Nile) + -icus -ic
1. : of or relating to the Nile or the peoples dwelling in the territory directly drained by it
the Nilotic year
specifically : of or relating to the Dinka, Luo, Nuer, Shilluk and linguistically related peoples who constitute a distinctive negroid race or subrace characterized particularly by extreme height
2. : of, relating to, or constituting the Nilotic group of Sudanic languages
II. noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
1. : a member of a Nilotic people
2. : a group of languages spoken in the Nile valley above Khartoum and southeastward into Kenya and Tanganyika, divided into western containing Acholi, Alur, Dinka, Lango, Luo, Nuer, and Shilluk and eastern containing Bari, Karamojong, Masai, Nandi, and Teso, and variously considered as a family or as a branch of the Chari-Nile family
3. : the western division only of the Nilotic languages in distinction to the eastern branch called Nilo-Hamitic