catalog
Americannoun
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a list or record, as of items for sale or courses at a university, systematically arranged and often including descriptive material.
a stamp catalog.
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something that contains such a list or record, as a book, leaflet, or file.
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a list of the contents of a library or a group of libraries, arranged according to any of various systems.
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any list or record.
a catalog of complaints.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to produce a catalog.
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to have a specified price as listed in a catalog.
This model catalogs for $49.95.
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to offer merchandise in a mail-order catalog.
adjective
Usage
What does catalog mean? A catalog is a list or record of items. It is sometimes spelled catalogue.It commonly refers to a list of things being offered, such as items for sale or courses at a school. The point of such a catalog is typically to arrange the information in an orderly way—often with descriptions—so that the items can be easily found.The word often refers to a printed copy of the list, especially in the context of items available for purchase from a particular company.Catalog can also be used to refer to a collection of works, such as by a particular artist, as in I love every album in her catalog.A card catalog is a file containing information about the books and other materials held in a library. Card catalogs were once commonly physical cabinets of drawers containing cards but now often exist as online catalogs.Sometimes, catalog is used in a very general way as another way of saying list, as in a catalog of complaints.Catalog can also be used as a verb meaning to record items with a list, as in Please catalog all of the new titles.Example: The course catalog lists all of the classes that are available to take.
Related Words
See list 1.
Other Word Forms
- cataloger noun
- catalogic adjective
- catalogical adjective
- catalogist noun
- catalogistic adjective
- cataloguer noun
- cataloguist noun
- miscatalog verb (used with object)
- miscatalogue verb (used with object)
- noncatalog adjective
- noncatalogue adjective
- recatalog verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of catalog
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English cataloge, from Late Latin catalogus, from Greek katálogos “a register” (akin to katalégein “to count up”), equivalent to kata- “down, against, back” + -logos reckoning; cata-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Researchers at the Salk Institute have now created a detailed epigenetic catalog that shows how inherited traits and life experiences affect different immune cell types in distinct ways.
From Science Daily
With access to sprawling libraries on Spotify and Apple Music, consumers are listening to albums and artist catalogs at higher rates, and older artists are more prone to popping back into the zeitgeist.
From Los Angeles Times
The growing music rights market allows artists to monetize their catalogs, which are attractive long-term assets for investors in the streaming era.
From Barron's
It enters NYCB’s repertory as the troupe’s 500th creation and as something of a rarity among its catalog of world premieres, which overwhelmingly take their inspiration from their chosen music, as Mr. Peck’s does.
Time had a way of evaporating instantly when he was engrossed in an interesting project, such as cataloging his baseball cards, or reading a good mystery.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
