Etymology of Nile River

In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pī or iteru, meaning "great river", represented by the hieroglyphs shown on the left (literally itrw, and 'waters' determinative) In Coptic, the words piaro (Sahidic) or phiaro (Bohairic) meaning "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great") come from the same ancient name.

The English name Nile (Latin: Nīlos; Greek: Νεἱλος) is thought to be ultimately derived from the Semitic Nahal meaning "river" from which the Hebrew nachal (Hebrew: נח"ל‎) is derived.

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