Essi

Essi is a term that appears in different contexts. In Italian, essi is a third-person plural pronoun used to refer to previously mentioned masculine or mixed-gender groups. In contemporary Italian, the pronoun essi is largely literary or formal; in everyday speech, speakers typically use loro. The pronoun has roots in older forms of demonstratives and pronouns in Italian and is sometimes encountered in historical or juridical texts as a formal substitute for "they."

Beyond its use in Italian, essi can appear as a proper noun or acronym. As a surname, essi occurs in some Italian-speaking regions. As an acronym, ESSI has been used for various organizations, standards, or initiatives, with meanings that vary by field, such as education, science, or industry. In such cases, the specific expansion should be identified from the context in which it appears.

In linguistic studies, essi is of interest for pronoun usage, agreement, and rendering of subject references in Italian texts and translations. It is discussed in comparisons with other pronouns, such as essi/esse versus loro, and in studies of language change toward more neutral or contemporary forms in modern usage. The term thus covers both a historical-pronoun function and a range of acronymic or nominal uses, depending on linguistic or organizational context.