catalog

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkæt.əl.ɒɡ/, US /ˈkæt̬.ə.lɑːɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cateloge, borrowed from Old French catalogue (“list, index”) and directly Late Latin catalogus,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek κατάλογος (katálogos, “list, register, enrollment”),^[2][3][4] from καταλέγω (katalégō, “to reckon up, enumerate”), from κατά (katá, “down, completely”) and λέγω (légō, “to count, speak”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A list of items: probably before 1425, as cathologe, in a translation of Chauliac's surgery, in Barnhart; the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline gives the Greek katalogos the example of the catalogue of ships in the Iliad.^[3] The verb is from 1598, in a translation of the Iliad.^[2][4] The spelling catalog has examples from the 16th century, but in modern times it seems to have spread in the late 19th century; the Century Dictionary of 1895 called it a recent spelling.^[3]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – cathologe, a list.^[2]
• 1598 – to catalog (verb).^[2][4]
• 1895 – catalog called a recent spelling.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A list of items, such as goods for sale, courses or library books, usually with descriptions.
2. A book or pamphlet containing such a list.

Verb

1. To make a list of; to enter in a catalog.
2. To classify a book or publication by a system.

Word family

• cataloger
• catalogist
• noncatalog
• miscatalog
• recatalog

Related words

• catalogue
• dialogue
• legend
• logo-

Usage notes

Catalog is an alternative spelling of catalogue.^[3]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster