DictionaryAI

catalogue

UKKAT-uh-log/ˈkæt.əˌlɒɡ/KAT-uh-lawg/ˈkæt.əˌlɔɡ/

Pluralcatalogues

Verbcatalogues, cataloguing, catalogued

US spellingcatalog

7 meanings of catalogue

Practice

  1. 1
    organised listnouncountable
    A full list of things such as books, names or pictures, put in a clear order.

    The museum's catalogue has a short note about each painting.

    She made a catalogue of the plants in her garden, with their Latin names.

    UsageSay a catalogue of things; a short shopping list is just a list.

    Similarlist

  2. 2
    mail ordernouncountable
    A magazine from a shop that shows things you can order and have sent to your home.

    Mum ordered my new school shoes from the catalogue.

    We looked through the toy catalogue and wrote our Christmas lists.

    UsageYou order from a catalogue.

    Similarbrochure

  3. 3
    make a listverbtransitive
    To make a careful list or record of things, or to add something to a list like this.

    We need to catalogue all the old photos before we move house.

    She catalogued every bird she saw on her walks last spring.

    UsageSpell it catalogued and cataloguing.

    Similarlist, record, document, itemise, chronicle

    Note
  4. 4
    recorded songsnouncountable
    All the songs or records made by a singer, band or writer of music, or owned by a record company.

    You can listen to the singer's whole catalogue online.

    The old band's catalogue still sells well, years after they split up.

    UsageA singer's back catalogue is their older songs.

    Similaroutput, discography

    Note
  5. 5
    string of failuresnounfigurativelycountable
    A series of bad things, one after another, often of the same kind.

    The match was a catalogue of mistakes from start to finish.

    The new flat had a whole catalogue of problems, from damp walls to a broken boiler.

    UsageSay a catalogue of mistakes or of problems.

    Similarstring, series, litany, succession

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    computer filesnoundatedcountable
    On a computer, a list that shows the files saved in one place.

    The disc catalogue on the old school computer listed every file we had saved.

    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

    Similardirectory

    Note
  2. 7
    verb
    In stamp collecting, to sort stamps or find out their value by looking them up in a list.

Used only in American English, spelled catalog: a US college's yearly book of courses.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of catalogue apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes, through French and Latin, from a Greek word meaning “register”, from a verb meaning “to make a list”.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts