Kupio

Kupio is a grammatical form found in several South Slavic languages, most commonly Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. It is the masculine singular past participle of the verb kupiti, meaning “to buy.” As a past participle, kupio is used in perfect tenses with an auxiliary verb (for example, ja sam kupio knjigu meaning “I bought a book”) and can function adjectivally to describe the subject as having performed the action of buying.

In these languages, kupiti conjugates to form different past participle forms depending on gender and number: kupio (masc. singular), kupila (fem. singular), kupilo (neut. singular), kupili (masc. plural), kupile (fem. plural), and kupila (neut. plural in some dialects). Kupio specifically appears when the subject is masculine singular.

Etymology and cognates indicate a common Slavic root related to purchasing. The verb kupiti traces to Proto-Slavic roots for buying, with cognates in other Slavic languages such as Polish kupił, Czech koupil, and Russian купил (kupil). These forms share the core meaning of “to buy” and yield gendered past participles similar to kupio in the Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian standard varieties.

Occasionally, kupio may be encountered as a surname in some regions, though it is not widely established as a family name. As a word, kupio does not denote a standalone concept beyond its participial meaning; its primary function is to indicate that the subject performed the act of buying in the past.

See also: kupiti, kupovina, kupac.