Meaning & use
to catalogue
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make a complete list of items, especially in a library, museum, or archive, recording details about each one.
Grammar: Takes an object: catalogue the collection. The thing listed comes after the verb.
Patterns
- catalogue something
- catalogue something as something
- catalogue something by something
The new librarian spent the summer cataloguing the old maps.
Every specimen in the museum has been catalogued with its place of origin.
They are still cataloguing the boxes of letters that arrived last month.
verbtransitivefigurative
To describe or record things in an organized way, often listing them one after another.
Grammar: Takes an object; often used about facts, faults, or events rather than physical objects.
Patterns
- catalogue something
- catalogue someone's mistakes
- catalogue a series of something
The report catalogues the failures of the last ten years.
She catalogued every reason why the plan would not work.
His diary catalogues the small daily events of village life.
nouncountable
A book or electronic list of items, often with details, arranged in a helpful order.
Grammar: Countable: a catalogue, two catalogues. Often used before another noun, as in catalogue number.
Patterns
- a catalogue of something
- in a catalogue
- a catalogue number
You can order the seeds from the garden catalogue.
Her paintings appear in the gallery's online catalogue.
Write the catalogue number on the form.
Word forms
| third person singular | catalogues |
|---|---|
| past tense | catalogued |
| past participle | catalogued |
| -ing form | cataloguing |
Common combinations
- catalogue a collection
- It took two years to catalogue the collection of ancient coins.
- catalogue a book
- Librarians catalogue each book before it goes on the shelf.
- catalogue number
- Please quote the catalogue number when you write to us.
- catalogue raisonné
- The artist's complete works were published in a catalogue raisonné.
- catalogue of errors
- The inquiry produced a catalogue of errors by the hospital staff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- list
- List is the general everyday word; catalogue suggests a fuller, more systematic record with details.
- record
- Record focuses on keeping information for the future, while catalogue stresses arranging many items in order.
- index
- An index is usually an alphabetical guide at the back of a book, not a full separate list of items.
- inventory
- Inventory is used for goods and property in stock, especially for business purposes.
Word family
- cataloguer noun
- A person whose job is to make catalogues, especially in a library.
- cataloguing noun
- The activity or process of making a catalogue.
- catalog noun
- The American spelling of the same word.
Commonly confused: to catalogue or category?
to catalogue vs category
Category means a group or class of things, while a catalogue is a list of them. Do not write 'catalogue' when you mean a type or class.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'catalogue' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Catalogue' is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object with no preposition, and the past tense is 'catalogued'. Option 1 wrongly adds 'to', option 2 uses the wrong form for the past, and option 3 needs 'cataloguing' after 'was'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “to catalogue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.