colui

Italian

Etymology

Contracted from Vulgar Latin *eccum illui, (genitive-)dative masculine singular of *eccum ille, under the influence of Latin cui (“to whom”). Compare French celui. and Romanian acelui.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈluj/
• Rhymes: -uj
• Hyphenation: co‧lùi

Pronoun

colui m (feminine colei, plural coloro, demonstrative)

1. (literary, used to indicate a person far from both the speaker and the listener) he, him; that man
   • 1998, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale‎^[1], page 85:

     Dopo tutto, Colui-Che-Non-Deve-Essere-Nominato ha fatto grandi cose...terribili, è vero, ma grandi.

     After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things...terrible, yes, but great.

   • 1320, Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia‎^[2], Paradiso, Canto I:

     La gloria di colui che tutto move per l'universo penetra, e risplende in una parte più e meno altrove.

     The glory of Him that moves everything in the universe permeates and shines in one part and less in another.

2. (literary, archaic, belonging to a person far from both the speaker and the listener) his

Usage notes

• Almost always followed by a relative pronoun.
• When used alone, the pronouns colui, colei, and coloro are often pejorative.

Related terms

• costui
• lui

Anagrams

• -ucoli, Lucio, ciulo, ciulò

Latin

Verb

coluī

1. first-person singular perfect active indicative of colō