quei

Bourguignon

Etymology

From Old French quel, from Latin quālis, quālem.

Adjective

quei (feminine singular quei or quâle, masculine plural queis, feminine plural queis or quâles)

1. which

   Quei janre de livre veus-tu aichetai ?

   Which kind of book do you want to buy?

2. (exclamative) what

   Quei caitaistrôphe !

   What a catastrophe!

Pronoun

quei (feminine singular quei or quâle, masculine plural queis, feminine plural queis or quâles)

1. (rare) what

   Quei ât son nom ?

   What is his name?

Derived terms

• douquei
• lequei
• auquei

See also

• qui
• quoi

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwe.i/
• Rhymes: -ei
• Hyphenation: qué‧i

Etymology 1

Determiner

quei m pl

1. plural of quello

Usage notes

• Before consonants except impure s, gn, pn, ps, x, y, z; before dei, quegli is used instead.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

quei m sg

1. Old Italian form of quegli
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto II”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 103-105; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Beatrice, loda di Dio vera,
     chè non soccorri quei che t'amò tanto,
     ch'uscì per te della volgare schiera ?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

Used before consonants, and especially before relative che.

Anagrams

• equi, equi-

Latin

Alternative forms

• quoi, qoi (even earlier)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kʷoi, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, *kʷís.

Adjective

quei m (Old Latin)

1. (interrogative) who, what, that, which

Pronoun

quei

1. (relative) who, what, that, which

Descendants

• Latin: quī