cataloguing

IPA/ˈkæt.əl.ɒɡ/
KK[kˈætəlˌɔɡɪŋ]IPA/ˈkæt̬.əl.ɑːɡ/

cataloguing — verb

  • cataloguingpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • cataloguings3rd person singular
  • cataloguinging-ing form
  • cataloguingedpast simple

1. writing down items one by one, often with short descriptions, so the whole group

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

writing down items one by one, often with short descriptions, so the whole group can be looked through, searched, or sorted later.

Example

Sahil spent the summer cataloguing every fossil in the museum's basement storage.

cataloguing + concrete noun-phrase object

Volunteers are cataloguing the donated books by author, language, and year of publication.

cataloguing + object + by + criteria

Common collocations
  • cataloguing the collection
  • cataloguing items
  • cataloguing species
  • busy cataloguing
Synonyms
  • indexing

    narrower — making a searchable index, often alphabetical, rather than a full descriptive list

  • documenting

    broader — recording any kind of information, not necessarily as a list

  • inventorying

    focused on counting stock or assets, less on descriptive detail

Antonyms
  • discarding

    throwing items away rather than recording them for reference

Grammar Patterns

catalogue + noun phrase

catalogue + noun phrase + as + noun

Usage Note

Object is usually a countable group meant for later reference — collections, archives, species, products. Frequently appears as a present participle or gerund after 'began', 'finished', 'busy', or 'help with'.

Common Mistakes

Otis is cataloguing the music.
Otis is cataloguing his music collection.
needs a countable group, not an uncountable mass.
She cataloguing the files yesterday.
She catalogued the files yesterday.
'cataloguing' is the -ing form; for a finished past action use 'catalogued'.

cataloguing — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe writing items down so they can be found again, but they differ in scope and detail. Cataloguing produces a full, descriptive list — each item gets a short note about what it is, who made it, or where it belongs, which is why libraries and museums use the word. Indexing is narrower: it builds a searchable list of locations or keywords, often alphabetical, without describing the items themselves. Documenting is the broadest term and just means recording information in any form, from photographs to written notes. Inventorying focuses on counting stock or assets, usually for business or insurance reasons. So a museum cataloguing its paintings writes descriptions; an indexer working on a book lists topics with page numbers; a researcher documenting a trip might keep diaries and photos; a shop manager inventorying the warehouse mainly counts.

cataloguing ↗indexing ↗documenting ↗inventorying ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • the cataloguing of
  • in the process of cataloguing
  • responsible for cataloguing

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLate LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Cataloguing is the present participle and gerund of the verb 'catalogue', which English borrowed in the late 1400s from Old French 'catalogue'. The French form came from Late Latin 'catalogus', itself from Greek 'katalogos', meaning a list or register, built from 'kata-' (down, completely) plus 'legein' (to gather or pick out). The original Greek idea was of picking items out one by one and writing them down in order — the same idea modern libraries and museums still apply. The British spelling 'cataloguing' keeps the French '-ue' ending; American writers usually drop it and write 'cataloging'.

First known use

15th century

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Verb