popisati

Popisati is a verb found in Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. It is derived from the noun popis, meaning a list or inventory, and the verb pisati, to write. With the prefix po-, popisati conveys a completed, thorough action. The primary meaning is to write down a list of items or to enumerate them, i.e., to create an inventory or catalog of something. In everyday use, popisati emphasizes the act of listing rather than merely describing.

The verb is transitive and commonly requires a direct object: popisati zgrade, popisati stanovništvo, popisati članove, etc. It is frequently encountered in bureaucratic, statistical, or organizational contexts, such as enumerating assets, inventorying property, or conducting a census. For example, popisali smo sve zgrade u gradu means “we enumerated all the buildings in the city,” and popisati stanovništvo is used in the sense of conducting a population census.

In related vocabulary, opisati means to describe, which is broader and less itemized, while popisivanje denotes the act of listing or inventorying. The term is standard across the major South Slavic languages and is understood in contexts dealing with inventories and censuses. See also census, inventory, catalog.