Editing River delta (section)

==Etymology==
A river delta is so named because the shape of the [[Nile Delta]] approximates the triangular uppercase [[Delta (letter)|Greek letter delta]]. The triangular shape of the Nile Delta was known to audiences of [[classical Athenian]] [[Ancient Greek drama|drama]]; the tragedy ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' by [[Aeschylus]] refers to it as the "triangular Nilotic land", though not as a "delta".<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Celoria|first=Francis|year=1966|title=Delta as a geographical concept in Greek literature|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]|volume=57|issue=3|pages=385–388|doi=10.1086/350146|jstor=228368|s2cid=143811840}}</ref>  [[Herodotus]]'s description of Egypt in his [[Histories (Herodotus)|''Histories'']] mentions the Delta fourteen times, as "the Delta, as it is called by the [[Ionians]]", including describing the outflow of [[silt]] into the sea and the convexly curved seaward side of the triangle.<ref name=":1" /> Despite making comparisons to other river systems deltas, Herodotus did not describe them as "deltas".<ref name=":1" /> The Greek historian [[Polybius]] likened the land between the [[Rhône]] and [[Isère (river)|Isère]] rivers to the Nile Delta, referring to both as islands, but did not apply the word delta.<ref name=":1" /> According to the Greek geographer [[Strabo]], the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic]] philosopher [[Onesicritus of Astypalaea]], who accompanied [[Alexander the Great]]'s conquests in [[Indus valley|India]], reported that [[Patalene]] (the delta of the [[Indus River]]) was "a delta" ({{Langx|grc-x-koine|καλεῖ δὲ τὴν νῆσον δέλτα|lit=he calls the island a delta|translit=kalei de tēn nēson délta}}).<ref name=":1" /> The Roman author [[Arrian]]'s [[Indica (Arrian)|''Indica'']] states that "the delta of the land of the Indians is made by the [[Indus River|Indus river]] no less than is the case with that of Egypt".<ref name=":1" />

As a [[generic term]] for the landform at the mouth of the river, the word delta is first attested in the English-speaking world in the late 18th century, in the work of [[Edward Gibbon]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Word Stories: Unexpected Relatives for Xmas |url=https://www.druide.com/en/reports/unexpected-relatives-for-xmas |website=Druide |access-date=2020-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022205012/https://www.druide.com/en/reports/unexpected-relatives-for-xmas |archive-date=2020-10-22 |date=January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>