The Greek word ΙΛΥΣ, written ilus in latin characters, means "mud".
My question is:
Does this word appear anywhere in the Spanish literature?
-
Most Spanish words ultimately from Greek were inherited via Latin. This word doesn't appear to have been inherited into Latin itself, but the Arabic word إِبْلِيز (ʾiblīz) is possibly derived from Greek ἰλύς (ilús) (alternatively from πηλός (pēlós)). Spanish has a lot of words derived from Arabic loans, though I can't find any derived from this one in particular.– jacoboAug 9, 2019 at 12:21
1 Answer
No, it doesn't
I have looked for the word in the CORDE and in old dictionaries, but every reference I find to "Ilus" is to a king of Troy. This is attested in the Terreros y Pando dictionary from 1787:
ILUS, ó ILO, cuarto Rei de Troya, hijo de Tros, ó Trois, y de la Ninfa Calirhoe, y que fabricó la Ciudadela de Troya, y echó á Tantalo de su Reino.
This is written in a book from the beginning of the 15th century:
[...] del rey trous nascio ilus que fizo la mayor fortaleza de troya [...].
Spanish words for mud include barro and lodo.
You can find also some cases of "Ilus." as the abbreviation for Ilustración.