inventory

American  

[in-vuhn-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈɪn vənˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• inventories
  plural

1. a complete listing of merchandise or stock on hand, work in progress, raw materials, finished goods on hand, etc., made each year by a business concern.

2. the objects or items represented on such a list, as a merchant's stock of goods.

3. the aggregate value of a stock of goods.

4. raw material from the time of its receipt at an industrial plant for manufacturing purposes to the time it is sold.

5. a detailed, often descriptive, list of articles, giving the code number, quantity, and value of each; catalog.

   Synonyms:

   account, register, record, roster

6. a formal list of movables, as of a merchant's stock of goods.

7. a formal list of the property of a person or estate.

8. a tally of one's personality traits, aptitudes, skills, etc., for use in counseling and guidance.

9. a catalog of natural resources, especially a count or estimate of wildlife and game in a particular area.

10. the act of making a catalog or detailed listing.

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verb (used with object)

• inventories,
  present (3rd person singular)
• inventoried,
  past participle,  past
• inventorying
  present participle

1. to make an inventory of; enter in an inventory; catalog.

2. to take stock of; evaluate.

   to inventory one's life and accomplishments.

3. to summarize.

   to inventory the progress in chemistry.

4. to keep an available supply of (merchandise); stock.

verb (used without object)

• inventories,
  present (3rd person singular)
• inventoried,
  past participle,  past
• inventorying
  present participle

1. to have value as shown by an inventory.

   stock that inventories at two million dollars.

inventory British  

/ ˈɪnvəntərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. a detailed list of articles, goods, property, etc

2. (often plural) accounting

   1. the amount or value of a firm's current assets that consist of raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods; stock

   2. such assets individually

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verb

1. (tr) to enter (items) in an inventory; make a list of

inventory Cultural  

1. An itemized list of a firm's goods that have not yet been sold.

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Usage

What does inventory mean? An inventory is a complete list of all merchandise or stock of items owned by or available from a business. At a store, an inventory is the complete list of all items for sale at the store. At a manufacturer, an inventory is a complete list of all the raw materials they have, as well as finished items and items being created. An inventory is also the specific set of products to sell, as in The store’s inventory of superhero capes is running low and will probably sell out soon. An inventory can also refer to figurative belongings, such as a person’s personality traits and skills. To inventory means to add things to an inventory list, whether a literal or figurative list, as in I inventoried my options for colleges and chose the school I’ll attend next year. Example: Can you take inventory tonight so we can be ready for the rush tomorrow?

Synonym Usage

See list ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preinventory
  noun
• inventoriable
  adjective
• inventorial
  adjective
• overinventoried
  adjective
• inventorially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• inventories
  plural

Participles

• inventorying
  present
• inventoried
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• inventory
  simple
• inventories
  simple
• have inventoried
  perfect
• has inventoried
  perfect
• am inventorying
  progressive
• are inventorying
  progressive
• is inventorying
  progressive
• have been inventorying
  perfect progressive
• has been inventorying
  perfect progressive

Past

• inventoried
  simple
• had inventoried
  perfect
• was inventorying
  progressive
• were inventorying
  progressive
• had been inventorying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will inventory
  simple
• will have inventoried
  perfect
• will be inventorying
  progressive
• will have been inventorying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of inventory

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English inventorie, from Medieval Latin inventōrium; see invent, -tory ²

Explanation

An inventory is an itemized list of everything you have. So you better take inventory of what’s in the fridge before going grocery shopping. Otherwise you'll end up with more jars of mustard that you don't need. The noun form of inventory developed in the early 15th century from the Middle French inventaire, meaning “detailed list of goods.” It's most commonly used in retail: a shop's inventory is everything that they have in stock, ready to sell. You can also use inventory as a verb when you want to describe the act of listing out the merchandise or supplies you have on hand.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

inventory inventories inventoried inventorying

Now, inventory is near prepandemic levels because homeowners, getting impatient waiting for rates to fall, have decided to sell anyway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

But the independent watchdog said the US spent more than $22 billion on munitions from February through June, leading to "strategic inventory shortfalls".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Vera Bradley is benefiting from its refreshed product assortment, a stepped-up marketing strategy, improved inventory management, and disciplined pricing and promotion governance, Bickley said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

But low inventory helped propel home prices to record highs over the summer.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

In regular games, unused power-ups that you collect can be stored in your player inventory.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

It could also tie exports to inventory levels: As commercial inventories went down past a certain level, so would refiners’ export allocation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Building U.S. crude oil inventories also likely support oil, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Oil prices slip as immediate supply concerns are eased by an unexpected jump in U.S. inventories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

U.S. distillate inventories, which include diesel, are 13% below their five-year average, according to the latest report from the Energy Information Administration.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

After restlessly starting and stopping concession inventories and making a few phone calls about delays in film deliveries, she did the only thing left to her and decided to watch a movie.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

The proposal would rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, enacted in the final days of the Clinton administration, which barred development across vast areas of public forests and grasslands designated as "inventoried roadless areas."

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

A suspect isn’t supposed to take belongings from a crime scene before the items are inspected and inventoried.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

The California Air Resources Board estimates that in California, agriculture is the source of 8% of total inventoried greenhouse gas emissions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2024

Repairing and updating the inventoried aircraft so they are airworthy takes about the same amount of resources as building an all-new aircraft, he added.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024

Apparently, some days in the State Shop were busy—the shop provided blue jeans and button-down shirts to inmates with court dates and inventoried the belongings of inmates on transfers—but this was not one of them.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

The plan provides for the inventorying and storage of its remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision, potentially removing the most significant obstacle to advancing the Trump-backed peace initiative for Gaza.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

"Carbon inventorying is still an evolving science," said Yunyu Zhang, lead author and graduate student from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2024

One by one, family members and friends speak this line to Vanya before inventorying their own monumental unhappiness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2023

I was squatting on the floor methodically inventorying my bounty to help streamline thank-you-card writing when my mother-in-law, who was visiting from Chennai, beckoned me over to our galley kitchen.

From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2021

She held me at arm’s length, inventorying every little new freckle, every extra pound.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

Related Words

• backlog
• fund
• index
• reserve
• stockpile
• supply