unaprijed

Unaprijed is a word used in Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian to mean in advance or ahead of time. As an adverb, it modifies verbs and phrases to indicate that an action occurs prior to a deadline or before a usual expectation. It is also used in contexts relating to payment to indicate prepayment, such as paying before delivery.

The term is formed from the prefix u- combined with naprijed, meaning forward; together the sense is that something is done earlier than expected or planned. This etymology reflects its central meaning of timing and sequence.

Usage is common across formal and informal speech. Examples include Hvala vam unaprijed (Thank you in advance) and Molim vas platite unaprijed (Please pay in advance). In business language, phrases like naplatiti unaprijed (to charge in advance) or ukupno unaprijed plaćanje (prepayment) are widely understood. The word is versatile and appears in everyday conversation as well as in contracts and notices.

Related forms include the verb unaprijediti, meaning to improve or advance, and the noun unapređenje, meaning improvement or upgrading. These forms share the same semantic field of moving forward in time or quality, though they function differently grammatically.