Etymologically
Log in

chi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 18:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

chi (invariable; masculine or feminine, normally singular)[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quī (“who, which”), the nominative singular of the Latin relative pronoun, according to DELI, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli.[3][4][5] Nocentini and Treccani derive it from both the interrogative quis (“who?”) and the relative, and Sabatini–Coletti speaks of a Late Latin form in which the relative and the interrogative and indefinite pronouns had merged.[6][7][2] Nocentini notes that the Latin relative had itself grown out of the interrogative, and that the Romance languages gave up the distinction between them.[6] Körting points out that Italian keeps the nominative as ⟨chi⟩ only where no noun comes before it, and uses che otherwise.[8]

The same nominative is French qui, Occitan qui, Catalan qui and Sardinian chie, while Spanish quién, Portuguese quem and Romanian cine continue the accusative quem.[6][9] Meyer-Lübke notes that only Logudorese kept that accusative as an object form; everywhere else it also serves as the subject.[9]

The relative goes back to Old Latin quei and Proto-Italic *kʷoi, and the interrogative to *kʷis; both continue the Indo-European pronoun stems Proto-Indo-European *kʷís and *kʷos.[1][10] De Vaan describes the Latin paradigm as a mixture of forms of these two stems.[10] Cognates are Ancient Greek τίς (tís, “who?”), Hittite kuis, Oscan pis and Old Church Slavonic чьто (čĭto, “what”).[6][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record, for both “the one who” and “which person”, is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.[3][4] The GDLI quotes his question “Chi vide mai così begli occhi in viso”, “who ever saw such beautiful eyes in a face?”.[12] Sabatini–Coletti dates the word to the 13th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian could use chi as a plural, as in Fra Giordano's “beati chi non vedranno e crederanno” (blessed are those who will not see and will believe), and after a preposition in place of cui, as in Petrarch's “a chi 'l ben piace” (to whom the good is pleasing).[7][13] The correlative use, “some … others”, is found in the early Judaeo-Italian elegy: “chi abbe la soro e chi lo frate” (one got the sister and one the brother); Boccaccio has the young people walking about carrying “chi fiori, chi erbe odorifere” (some flowers, some fragrant herbs).[12]

As an interrogative it is often strengthened by mai or diavolo or used in the cleft form chi è che….[12] Fixed phrases include the sentry's challenge chi va là?, chi vive?, which Körting compares with French qui vive?, and proverbs such as chi cerca trova.[7][8] The indefinite chicchessia, formed with che and the subjunctive sia, dates from the 18th century.[6]

Timeline

  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses chi as a relative and an interrogative pronoun.[3]
  • Before 1321 – Dante writes “Non so chi sia” (“I don't know who he is”, Purgatorio 14).[12]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses the correlative chi … chi.[12]
  • 18th century – Chicchessia “anyone at all” is first recorded.[6]
  • 1892 – Chi is recorded as the name of the Greek letter.[4]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. The one who, whoever, joining a main clause to a relative clause: chi arriva tardi resta senza posto.[4][5][2]
  2. Someone who, anyone who, with an indefinite sense: c'è chi preferisce il tè; in a negative clause, no one who.[4][5][2]
  3. With a conditional sense, if anyone: chi volesse iscriversi lo dica entro venerdì.[4][2][14]
  4. Repeated as a correlative, some … others: chi leggeva, chi giocava a carte.[4][13][7]
  5. who, whom, asking about a person's identity, in direct and indirect questions: chi ha lasciato la porta aperta?, dimmi con chi parlavi.[4][2][13]
  6. In exclamations: guarda chi c'è!.[2]

Word family

Usage notes

In Tuscan pronunciation chi doubles the consonant that follows it.[2][7] Set phrases include chi di dovere (the person responsible), chi più chi meno (some more, some less) and chi sa, now usually written chissà.[4][13][14]

A separate word chi (masculine or feminine, invariable) is the name of the Greek letter χ, recorded in 1892; it comes from Ancient Greek χεῖ (kheî) through Latin chī, a learned word found in Columella.[4][1][15] It is used in the statistical test del chi quadrato.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 40
  13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 891