popis

Popis is a term found in several Slavic languages with related but distinct meanings. In Czech and Slovak, popis denotes a description or explanatory text of something, and is used for captions or labels such as popis obrázku (caption of an image) or popis zboží (product description). In publishing, museums, and education, popis provides context, details, or qualifications that accompany a figure, artifact, or text. The word can also refer to a written summary or specification of a document or item.

In many South Slavic languages, including Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian, popis is mainly used to mean census: an official enumeration of the population or households for statistical purposes, e.g., popis stanovništva. In these contexts, popis denotes both the operation and its results. The term can also appear in phrases meaning inventory or listing in older or bureaucratic usage.

Etymology: Popis derives from Slavic roots related to writing or describing, commonly linked to opis or opisivanje in related languages, with the prefix po- indicating completion or thoroughness in some uses. Distinctions between popis and related forms such as opis (description) or popisek (caption) exist regionally.

Usage notes: The precise meaning is determined by language and domain. When translating, it is important to identify whether the sense is descriptive text (caption/description) or census/inventory.