altrui

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *alterūi, which took the place of the classical dative ⟨alterī⟩ of Latin alter (“the other”).^[2][3][4][1] The new dative was remade on cui (“to whom”), the dative of the relative pronoun quī (“who”).^[3][5][6] Italian lui, colui and costui have the same ending.^[1][7]

The classical dative itself survives in Italian altri.^[8] The form in ⟨-ui⟩ belongs to Gallo-Romance and Italy: French autrui, Old Occitan autrui and Old Catalan altrui.^[8][1] Tommaseo derived it instead from the genitive ⟨alterius⟩, on the model of illius.^[9]

The Latin pronoun comes from Proto-Italic *aliteros (“the other of two”).^[1] In late Latin it took over the senses of alius (“another”), and so it continues in every Romance language.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a document from Montieri in Tuscany of 1219, with the pronoun sense “another person, someone else”; the possessive “of others” follows in Uguccione da Lodi early in the 13th century.^[10] DELI dates the pronoun to Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, and the adjective to Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the pronoun was used without a preposition as a direct or indirect object (a un'altra persona), and also after prepositions (d'altrui, con altrui).^[10][6] Dante's lo pane altrui (“other people's bread”) and Petrarch's per odio d'altrui (“out of hatred of others”) are classic examples.^[11][6]

The pronoun uses became literary and archaic; in modern Italian altrui is mainly an invariable possessive adjective after its noun, as in la roba altrui “other people's property”.^[4][6][12] Used as a noun, l'altrui means what belongs to others, as in Ariosto's perde il suo per acquistar l'altrui.^[12]

French autrui lies behind the word altruisme, coined by Auguste Comte in 1830 from Latin alter against égoïsme;^[2] Italian altruismo is recorded in 1875.^[2]

Timeline

• 1219 – The pronoun appears in a document from Montieri.^[10]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the possessive.^[10]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the pronoun.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the adjective.^[2]
• 1875 – Altruismo, from French altruisme, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (possessive, invariable) Of others, belonging to other people (altri), as opposed to one's own: i diritti altrui, Rispetta il lavoro altrui.^[4][13][12]

Noun

1. l'altrui (literary): what belongs to others.^[4][12][14]

Pronoun

1. (literary) Another person, others, as a direct or indirect object.^[4][12][6]
2. (archaic) After prepositions: d'altrui, con altrui.^[4][13]

Related words

• altri
• altro
• altruismo
• altruista
• Latin alter
• French autrui

Usage notes

Altrui does not change for gender or number, and as an adjective it normally follows the noun.^[4][12] It is used as a subject only exceptionally.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 240
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli