lì

Forms

lì (adverb, invariable)^[1] Old and Tuscan forms include lie (Lucca, Pisa, Livorno) and lici.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin illīc (“there, in that place”), an old locative of the demonstrative ille (“that”), strengthened with the deictic particle -ce.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin adverb is illī with that particle added, as in hīc (“here”) and istīc (“there by you”).^[8][1] The same word is Catalan allí, Spanish allí and Portuguese ali.^[5][1] DELI refers to là, the companion adverb.^[4]

Standard Italian lost the double /ll/ of the Latin form, but it survives in most regional varieties.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo, in the sense “in that place”.^[4][5] Dante has it in the Paradiso: “Ed ora lì, come a sito decreto, / cen porta la virtù di quella corda” (and now there, as to an appointed place, the power of that bowstring carries us).^[9]

Semantic evolution

The temporal sense “then, at that moment” is in Dante's Commedia (1300–1313).^[4] DELI cites Gerhard Rohlfs on its Tuscan partner costì “there, near you”, which is frequent in Dante but which Petrarch never used, as too Tuscan a word.^[4]

In modern use lì marks a place nearer or more precisely fixed than là, and it is used to strengthen demonstratives (quello lì) and in commands (fermo lì!).^[7][10] Phrases include lì per lì “on the spot, at first”, giù di lì “thereabouts” and essere lì lì per “to be on the point of”.^[11][3][10]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses lì “in that place”.^[4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “at that moment”.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. there, in or to that place, not near the speaker; often paired with qui or qua: Metti le chiavi lì sul mobile.^[11][6][7]
2. Combined with other adverbs and prepositions to fix the place: lì dentro, lì vicino, di lì, fino lì.^[11][6][12]
3. After quello or ecco, to point at a person or thing: Mi passi quel quaderno lì?^[11][7][12]
4. For emphasis in commands and exclamations: Zitti lì!^[11][10][3]
5. Of time, then, at that point: di lì a una settimana.^[11][6][12]

Related words

• là
• qui
• qua
• costì
• Latin illic

Usage notes

In Tuscany lì doubles the first consonant of the following word.^[7] By the rule of the grammars lì points at a place far from both speaker and listener, as against costì, but in ordinary use it also refers to a place near the listener.^[7] In the dates of letters (Roma, lì 5 maggio) the word is written lì, although the form that belongs there etymologically is li, an old form of the article.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2219
3. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana