cijeli

Cijeli is an adjective in Croatian that means "whole" or "entire." It modifies nouns and agrees in gender, number, and case: masculine singular cijeli, feminine singular cijela, neuter singular cijelo, with corresponding forms for other cases. It is used to indicate the total quantity, extent, or duration, and appears in expressions such as cijeli dan, cijela kuća, cijelo vrijeme, and cijeli život.

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from the Slavic root for "whole," traced to Proto-Slavic *celъ. It has cognates in other Slavic languages, such as Polish cały, Russian целый, and Czech celý. In Croatian the form cijeli reflects standard phonological development of the root, with feminine cijela and neuter cijelo as part of the same paradigm.

Usage notes: As with most Croatian adjectives, cijeli agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case. It is commonly used with time expressions to stress completeness, and with numeral or collective nouns to emphasize totality. It can be used both literally (cijeli dan, cijela kuća) and figuratively (cijeli problem, cijeli život).

See also: cjelovit, cijelokupan.