catalog

Word family

• cataloger
  nounC1
• cataloging
  nounC1
• uncataloged
  adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe an organized collection of items, but they differ in scope and purpose. A 'list' is the broadest term — anything written in a sequence counts as a list, from a grocery list to a roster of names. A 'catalog' is more systematic than a simple list; it typically organizes items by category or alphabetically and provides descriptive details (e.g., a library catalog includes author, title, and subject for every book). A 'directory' focuses on contact or location information, such as a phone directory or a staff directory — knowing how to reach someone or where something is. An 'inventory' is a detailed count of goods or supplies, often used in retail or warehousing to track stock levels. A 'register' is an official or formal record kept over time, like a register of births or a hotel guest register. In practice: 'She added milk to her shopping list' (any sequence), 'He searched the library catalog for books by Chih-Yuan Chen' (systematic with details), 'The company's inventory showed 200 units in stock' (quantity tracking).

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'catalog' comes from the French 'catalogue', which came from the Latin 'catalogus', meaning 'a list or register'. The Latin word was borrowed from the Greek 'katalogos', which meant 'a list' or 'a roll call'. The Greek word was built from 'kata-' (meaning 'down, completely') and 'legein' (meaning 'to gather, to count, or to speak'), so the original idea was 'to count up completely' — to make a thorough accounting of items one by one. The shortened spelling 'catalog' (dropping the '-ue' ending) became the standard in American English during the 19th century, following a broader trend of simplifying French loanword spellings.