loro

Forms

loro (third person plural, masculine and feminine, invariable; poetic lor)^[2][1][3] Old Italian also has the shortened form Old Italian lo', as in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin illōrum (“of those”), the genitive plural of Latin ille (“that”).^[5][6][2][1] DELI calls the use of the genitive instead of the dative exceptional, and explains it, following Bourciez and Tekavčić, by the dative's having become the unstressed form.^[5] In late Latin the genitive took over the work of the dative and ablative.^[7][8] The same form is French leur (“their; to them”) and Romanian lor.^[6]

As a possessive the word keeps the original sense “of those”, and as a stressed pronoun it serves the third person plural.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the pronoun “they, them” is in a Florentine account book of 1211; the possessive adjective is in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, a Tuscan statute.^[5][2] Sabatini–Coletti dates the shortened lor to the 12th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian loro was above all an indirect object, “to them”, often without a preposition, as in Dante's Vita nuova: “salutando loro dissi” (greeting them I said).^[4] Giacomo da Lentini uses the possessive before 1250, and Dante writes “per difender lor ville e lor castelli” (to defend their towns and castles, Inferno 15).^[5][10] The possessive pronoun “theirs” is rare in Dante, and the plural i loro “their family, their relatives” is in Matteo Villani before 1363.^[5]

As a subject loro spread in spoken Italian at the expense of essi and esse, and it is required where the subject is stressed or contrasted.^[2][11][9] The polite Loro, the plural of Lei, is now uncommon and usually replaced by voi.^[1][12]

Timeline

• 1211 – A Florentine account book has loro “they, them”.^[5]
• 1219 – The possessive loro in the Breve di Montieri.^[5]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the possessive.^[5]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses il loro “theirs”.^[5]
• Before 1363 – I loro “their relatives” in Matteo Villani.^[5]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. them, after a preposition: esco con loro, parlavamo di loro.^[2][3][13]
2. To them, as an indirect object, with or without a: ho scritto loro una lettera.^[2][9][12]
3. Them, as a stressed direct object: cercavo loro, non voi.^[2][11][3]
4. they, as a subject, especially in speech or when stressed or contrasted: loro vanno al mare, noi restiamo.^[2][11][9]
5. (formal, often written Loro) You, as a polite plural.^[1][12]

Determiner

1. their: la loro macchina, i loro nipoti.^[9][13][1]

Pronoun

1. theirs: la nostra casa è più piccola della loro, i loro: their family or friends.^[12][9][1]

Word family

• coloro

Related words

• lui
• noi
• voi
• il
• Latin ille
• French leur

Usage notes

Phrases include beati loro! (lucky them), contenti loro, contenti tutti and stare dalla loro (to be on their side).^[11][3][12] In bureaucratic style il di loro replaces the possessive.^[2][12] In the spoken language gli is often used for loro as an indirect object (gli ho scritto).^[12][13]

Separate loro nouns are a leather strap or a bird's bare stripe between bill and eye, a learned word from Latin lōrum, and a parrot, from Spanish loro.^[7][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 223
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2271
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 224
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli