klijenta

Klijenta is a form of the noun klijent used in several South Slavic languages, most often Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. The word klijent means a client or customer, typically a person or organization that uses professional services or purchases goods from a provider such as a lawyer, consultant, or IT firm. The form klijenta is the genitive singular in these languages, and it also functions as the accusative singular in contexts where the direct object is a animate masculine noun.

In practical use, klijenta appears in phrases indicating possession or relation, for example ime klijenta (the client’s name) or račun klijenta (the client’s bill). It can contrast with other cases of klijent, such as nominative klijent (the client) or dative klijentu (to/for the client). Because the accusative and genitive forms are identical for this noun in singular, context typically clarifies whether the form is indicating possession or the direct object.

Etymology and cognates: klijent is a loanword derived from Latin cliens, transmitted into the region via Romance-language intermediaries such as Italian cliente. In modern usage, the term has become standard in business, legal, medical, and IT vocabulary to denote a client or customer.

See also: klijent.