Etymologically
Log in

suo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 18:36. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

suo (feminine sua, masculine plural suoi, feminine plural sue)[1] Old forms include seo, sio, so, sou, su and suoio.[2][1] In the 13th century the form soio is found, and old Umbrian had so, sou and su.[3] Popular Tuscan uses su’ before the noun for every gender and number (la su' mamma), and central Italy has sua for both plurals.[4][5] The northern enclitic form -so is found in signorso “his lord”.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin suus (“his, her, their own”).[6][7][8][1] The word is panromance: French son and sien, Occitan so, Catalan son, Spanish su and suyo, Portuguese seu, Sardinian suu, Friulian so and Romanian său.[7][9] Early Latin inscriptions still write ⟨sou-⟩ (ablative ⟨soua⟩, ⟨souo⟩).[10]

Latin ⟨suus⟩ continues Proto-Italic *sowos and Proto-Indo-European *sewos, an adjective formed from the reflexive pronoun *swé, continued in Latin sē (“oneself”).[1][7][10][11] Related forms are Ancient Greek ἑός (heós) and ὅς (hós), Sanskrit स्व (sva), Lithuanian sãvas, Old Church Slavonic свои (svoi) and Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃 (swēs).[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Umbrian confession formula of about 1080, in the sense “belonging to him or her, of him or her”, followed by the Ritmo laurenziano at the end of the 12th century.[6][8][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian and popular usage also used it with a plural subject, in place of loro: Dante's “Tronche e private de le punte sue” and Boccaccio's “avranno il suo saettamento saettato”.[5][12] The plural i suoi “his or her family” is in Dante, before 1321.[6]

Placed before a title, Sua forms courtesy formulas: Sua Eccellenza is in Vespasiano da Bisticci before 1498 and Sua Maestà in Guicciardini before 1540.[6] With the polite Lei the possessive also means “your”, often capitalized: Suo.[1][13]

Timeline

  • c. 1080 – The Umbrian confession formula has suo.[6][8]
  • End of the 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses it.[6]
  • 13th century – The form soio is recorded.[3]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses i suoi “his family”.[6]
  • Before 1498 – Sua Eccellenza in Vespasiano da Bisticci.[6]
  • Before 1540 – Sua Maestà in Francesco Guicciardini.[6]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. his, her, its: belonging to him, her or it: ha parcheggiato la sua bici in cortile.[8][13][14]
  2. Part of him or her, proper to him, her or it: la sua risata, il fiume e le sue rive.[8][13][14]
  3. Made, said, written or given by him or her: ho ascoltato il suo ultimo album.[8][13]
  4. Linked to him or her by family, friendship, work and the like: sua nonna, i suoi vicini di casa.[8][13][4]
  5. (formal, often written Suo) your, when addressing someone as Lei: signora, è Sua questa borsa?.[1][13]
  6. In titles of courtesy: Sua Santità, Sua Maestà.[6][5]

Pronoun

  1. His, hers: la mia idea è diversa dalla sua.[5][1]
  2. i suoi: his or her family, parents.[6][5]
  3. il suo: what belongs to him or her, his or her own property.[5]

Usage notes

Common phrases include a suo tempo (at the right time) and fare le sue or farne una delle sue (to do one of his or her usual tricks).[5] In bureaucratic style il di lei replaces suo to avoid ambiguity: il di lei marito.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. 20, 519
  3. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3676
  4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 432
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse