catalogue

Etymology

From Middle English cathaloge, from Old French catalogue, from Late Latin catalogus, itself from Ancient Greek κατάλογος (katálogos, “enrollment, register”), from καταλέγω (katalégō, “to recount, make a list”), from κατα- (kata-, “downwards, towards”) + λέγω (légō, “to say, to speak, to tell”).

noun

1. A systematic list of books, names, pictures, etc.
   1. A complete (usually alphabetical or chronological) list of items.
   2. A list of all the publications in a library; a library catalogue.
2. A retailer's magazine detailing the products they sell, allowing the reader to order them for delivery.
3. (US) A book printed periodically by a college, university, or other institution that gives a definitive description of the institution, its history, courses and degrees offered, etc.
4. (computing, dated) A directory listing.
   The program generates a catalogue of the files on the cartridge selected by the user, reads the catalogue into memory and erases the cartridge copy, so that an up-to-date copy is always generated. 1983, “Helpline”, in Sinclair User, number 21
   BBCFiles is a BBC file converter that converts between some of the various types of files used by BBC emulators on Acorn & PC formats. It supports 6502Em style applications & scripts, /ssd dfs disc images (supporting watford double catalogue), vanilla directories, /zip of bbc files with /inf files (with limitations) and directory of bbc files with /inf files. 2001, Michael Foot, “BeebIt 0.32 and BBCFiles 0.29 released”, in comp.sys.acorn.announce (Usenet)
   It has two extra options using extended syntax. CAT - an extended catalogue but not as detailed as some I've seen. ( The reason that the Spectrum CAT command is restricted is that it cleverly uses the 512 bytes data buffer of the microdrive channel to sort the filenames - hence the limit of 50 ten-character filenames ) 2003, Brotha G, “Repairing Microdrive Cartridges”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet)
5. (music) A complete list of a recording artist's or a composer's songs.
6. (in the singular, figurative) A series of unwelcome or unpleasant things, often similar.
   Near-synonym: litany
   The Reds were on the back foot early on when a catalogue of defensive errors led to Ramires giving Chelsea the lead. Jay Spearing conceded possession in midfield and Ramires escaped Jose Enrique far too easily before scoring at the near post with a shot Reina should have saved. May 5, 2012, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
   "A catalogue of basic errors resulted in this tragedy," said HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE. February 22 2023, “Network News: Siemens fined after contractor's death”, in RAIL, number 977, page 9

verb

1. To put into a catalogue.
2. To make a catalogue of.
   The consequences were catalogued by the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution in 1994, which recommended several measures to constrain the emission of greenhouse gases. March 22 2023, 'Industry Insider', “Restoring Your Railway”, in RAIL, number 979, page 68
3. To add items (e.g. books) to an existing catalogue.
4. (philately) to value or sort stamps using a catalogue