lui

Forms

lui (plural loro, feminine lei)^[1] Old forms are loi and lue.^[2] Tuscan has the form lu’.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *illui, a dative of Latin ille (“that”) that replaced the classical illī, used for every gender.^[4][5][6][1] The new masculine took its ending from the relative pronoun cui, the source of Italian cui,^[4][5][7][8] and a feminine *illaei (Italian lei) was made on its model.^[5] The dative spread to all the oblique cases, the accusative included.^[5] The same form is Old French lui and li, Occitan lui and Romanian lui.^[5][9]

ille itself replaced Old Latin olle or ollus; its ⟨i-⟩ is usually explained by the analogy of iste.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Ritmo laurenziano, at the end of the 12th century, as the oblique form of the third person, “him”.^[4] Nocentini dates it to the beginning of the 13th century and GRADIT to before 1294.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used lui after prepositions and as a stressed object, and also as an indirect object without a, as in Dante's “per dar lui esperïenza piena” (to give him full experience, Inferno 28).^[11][12] It could refer to animals and things as well as to persons.^[12]

Its use as a subject in place of egli was strongly opposed by grammarians.^[4] It began cautiously in the 14th century (Dino Compagni, 1310–1312), spread in the 15th, was taken up by Aretino, and became established when Manzoni put it in place of egli, which he felt to be too solemn.^[4] Fanfani noted in 1863 that the people used it almost always and good writers used it in familiar writing.^[4] Nocentini describes the same shift for lui and lei, which by the 19th and 20th centuries had pushed egli and ella back into literary use.^[5]

As a noun, il mio lui is a woman's beloved, recorded by Carlo Arlìa in 1895; in Milan the word meant the husband and in Rome the master.^[4][13] Written Lui, it can refer to God.^[13][1]

Timeline

• End of the 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses lui as an object form.^[4]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses lui as a subject.^[4]
• 15th century – The subject use spreads.^[4][5]
• 1863 – Fanfani notes that the people almost always say lui for “he”.^[4]
• 1895 – Lui “the beloved man” is recorded by Arlìa.^[4]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. he, as a subject, now the usual form in place of egli and esso, and obligatory after the verb or when contrasted: lui è già partito, l'ha deciso lui.^[6][7][8]
2. him, as a stressed object and after prepositions: cercavo proprio lui, vado al cinema con lui.^[6][12][14]
3. In exclamations and comparisons: beato lui!, è testardo quanto lui.^[6][13]
4. (bureaucratic) il di lui, la di lui in place of the possessive “his”: il signor Bianchi e la di lui sorella.^[6][8][13]
5. (literary) “To him”, without a preposition.^[6][12]
6. (with a capital) God.^[13]

Noun

1. (colloquial) il lui, a woman's boyfriend or the man she loves: è uscita con il suo lui.^[13][4]

Word family

• colui

Related words

• Lei
• egli
• lei
• Loro
• loro
• cui
• Latin ille
• French lui

Usage notes

A separate lui (1957) is an ethnic name, a variant of lozi.^[6] The warbler called luì is a different word, an imitation of the bird's call, recorded in Pulci.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 265
3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2281
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 266