inventory
Americannoun
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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.
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the objects or items represented on such a list, as a merchant's stock of goods.
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the aggregate value of a stock of goods.
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raw material from the time of its receipt at an industrial plant for manufacturing purposes to the time it is sold.
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a detailed, often descriptive, list of articles, giving the code number, quantity, and value of each; catalog.
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a formal list of movables, as of a merchant's stock of goods.
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a formal list of the property of a person or estate.
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a tally of one's personality traits, aptitudes, skills, etc., for use in counseling and guidance.
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a catalog of natural resources, especially a count or estimate of wildlife and game in a particular area.
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the act of making a catalog or detailed listing.
verb (used with object)
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to make an inventory of; enter in an inventory; catalog.
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to take stock of; evaluate.
to inventory one's life and accomplishments.
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to summarize.
to inventory the progress in chemistry.
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to keep an available supply of (merchandise); stock.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a detailed list of articles, goods, property, etc
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(often plural) accounting
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the amount or value of a firm's current assets that consist of raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods; stock
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such assets individually
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verb
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
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preinventorynoun
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inventoriableadjective
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inventorialadjective
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overinventoriedadjective
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inventoriallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inventorysimple
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inventoriessimple
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have inventoriedperfect
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has inventoriedperfect
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am inventoryingprogressive
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are inventoryingprogressive
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is inventoryingprogressive
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have been inventoryingperfect progressive
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has been inventoryingperfect progressive
Past
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inventoriedsimple
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had inventoriedperfect
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was inventoryingprogressive
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were inventoryingprogressive
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had been inventoryingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing inventory
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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.
See Examples For:
Pending a change in regulation, this will be the end of the line for releases from the reserve, which is required by statute to maintain a minimum inventory of about 250 million barrels of oil.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
In terms of longer-term trends Abouhossein argues that investment banking generally is transforming as a business model from a heavy emphasis on balance sheet and inventory, to something lighter and more geared to best-execution practices.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
She still has other inventory left, but this time of the year is important for her business, as parents and students stock up for the new autumn term.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Additionally, customer inventory levels declined, remaining lower than historical norms, while steel backlogs and lead times increased, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Her eyes search my face, like she’s looking for inventory, and I can’t help feeling guilty about wanting to do something other than sit here.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Management broadly painted an optimistic view of next year, when it expects that companies and governments will look to replenish their inventories and solidify new supply connections as the war reshapes energy markets.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Hundreds of small businesses saw their inventories wiped out in the strike, triggering angry comments on social media.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Government-controlled inventories in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of mostly wealthy countries, dropped another 44 million barrels in June from the May level, which was already the lowest since December 1990.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
If shipping traffic through Bab el-Mandeb is halted, global oil inventories would “drop dramatically, and crude prices would jump and remain high until a resolution is found,” Haigh said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
In Ka’apor-managed forests, according to Balee’s plant inventories, almost half of the ecologically important species are those used by humans for food.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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
In total, the rescission would apply to nearly 45 million acres of the nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest system, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025
Andrew Fountain, a geology professor emeritus at PSU, and research assistant Bryce Glenn, inventoried glaciers and perennial snowfields in the western continental U.S. using aerial and satellite imagery between 2013 and 2020.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2023
Unlike with single-use packaging, company-owned reusable containers have to be fastidiously tracked, washed, inventoried, restocked, and refilled.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2023
Once my trip was booked, I inventoried everything in my hideout and packed the items I wanted to take with me into an old rucksack.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
"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
Across North America, there are an estimated 170 fireflies species, which are technically beetles in the order Coleoptera, but inventorying them is a challenge.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023
When Mr. Indiana died, Mr. Brannan began inventorying the art work in the house.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2018
The remaining grant money will be spent inventorying the state’s backlogged kits and investigating criminal cases against suspects identified through DNA, the state Attorney General’s Office said at the time.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2018
She held me at arm’s length, inventorying every little new freckle, every extra pound.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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.
