entrambi

Forms

entrambi m pl (feminine entrambe)^[1] The TLIO lists old forms such as Old Italian intrambi, intrambo and trambi.^[2] A singular form entrambo is archaic.^[3][4]

Etymology

It continues the phrase inherited from Latin inter ambōs (“between both”).^[5][6][7][1] The phrase is made of Latin inter (“between”) and ambō (“both”).^[8][6] DEI and GDLI note that it survives in Italian, Occitan, Spanish and Portuguese.^[9][4] Meyer-Lübke observed that ⟨inter… et⟩ joined two subjects or objects in the older stages of nearly all the Romance languages.^[10]

Latin ⟨ambo⟩ keeps the old dual ending ⟨-ō⟩; de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)nt-bʰoH (“both”), perhaps from a case form of the word for “face”.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Splanamento of Patecchio of Cremona, in the first part of the 13th century, as a pronoun meaning “both”.^[2] DELI dates the word to the 13th century, in a vernacular Panfilo, and Zingarelli to before 1294.^[5][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was a pronoun and an adjective meaning “both”, also next to a personal pronoun.^[2] Petrarch uses it in the Trionfi, and Tasso writes of two lovers who “fall both, one upon the other” (Caggiono entrambi, e l'un su l'altro langue).^[4] In modern Italian it is the usual word for “both” beside ambedue, and as an adjective it is always followed by the definite article.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 13th century – Patecchio of Cremona uses entrambi.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[12]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. both, the one and the other: Sono partiti entrambi, Le ho invitate entrambe.^[7][3][13]

Adjective

1. Both (followed by the definite article): entrambi i fratelli, entrambe le mani.^[7][3][12]

Related words

• ambedue
• ambo
• tra
• Latin ambō

Usage notes

The feminine is entrambe.^[1][13] A synonym is ambedue.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 170
5. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1488
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse