svrha

Svrha is a feminine noun used in several South Slavic languages, including Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Slovenian. It denotes the purpose, aim, or intended use of something and is commonly found in both everyday and formal discourse.

The word is of Slavic origin and is used across legal, administrative, and academic texts to express why something exists or is undertaken. It appears in constructions such as svrha projekta (the purpose of the project), svrha zakona (the aim of the law), and u svrhu (for the purpose of). Its usage emphasizes reason or justification rather than a concrete target.

In translation, the closest English equivalents are "purpose," "aim," or "end." While closely related to words for goals or objectives in these languages, svrha specifically signals the underlying reason behind an action or measure. In some contexts, it can be contrasted with terms that refer more directly to a concrete goal, but the distinction is subtle and often contextual rather than absolute. Svrha remains a common and neutral term in both administrative and scholarly writing, as well as in everyday speech when clarifying the motivation behind a decision or action.