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
- A list of items, such as goods for sale, courses or library books, usually with descriptions.
- A book or pamphlet containing such a list.
Verb
- To make a list of; to enter in a catalog.
- To classify a book or publication by a system.
Word family
- cataloger
- catalogist
- noncatalog
- miscatalog
- recatalog
Related words
Usage notes
Catalog is an alternative spelling of catalogue.[3]
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster