# register

Pronunciation: US say "REJ-i-stur" /ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stɚ/; UK say "REJ-i-stuh" /ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stə/

## Verb

1. To put a person's name, or a thing such as a car or a birth, on an official list or record, or to have one's own name put there; to sign up.
   - Simple: To put a name or thing on an official list, or to sign up for something.
   - _The league registers new players every spring before the season opens._
   - _Volunteer groups register thousands of first-time voters every election year._
3. To make a formal record of something, especially in writing.
   - Simple: To make an official record of something, usually in writing.
   - _The clerk registered the complaint in the official log._
   - _By law, the captain must register the time and position of every accident in the ship's log._
5. Of a measuring instrument, to display a given reading; of an event, to reach a given level when measured on a scale.
   - Simple: To show a number, as a thermometer or scale does, or to be measured at some level.
   - _Thermometers in the greenhouse often register over 100 degrees by midday in July._
   - _The quake registered 6.4 on the Richter scale, the strongest in the region for decades._
6. To be noticed or understood; to sink in or make an impression on someone.
   - Simple: To be noticed or understood by someone, often only after a moment.
   - _The candidate's message failed to register with younger voters._
   - _His quiet apology registered more deeply than any grand gesture could have._
8. To perceive or comprehend something; to pick up on something.
   - Simple: To notice and take in something, such as a sound, a change, or a fact.
   - _He failed to register the change in her tone until it was too late._
   - _The guard registered the movement on the screen and reached for his radio._
9. To express outward signs of a feeling or reaction.
   - Simple: To show a feeling through your face, voice, or body.
   - _The senator's face registered nothing as the verdict was read._
   - _Skilled actors can register grief with the smallest change of expression._
10. To send a piece of mail by registered post, so that the postal service records it at each stage and the sender gets proof of delivery.
   - Simple: To pay extra so the post office records a letter and keeps it safe.
   - _He registered the envelope containing the contracts before sending it overseas._
   - _When she mailed her original birth certificate, she paid extra to register the envelope so every step could be tracked._
17. To unlock trial software by paying for its full version and supplying one's personal details.
   - Simple: To pay for the full version of a trial program by sending your name and payment.
   - _The shareware nags you to register until you enter a license code._
   - _She registered the photo editor after the trial expired and got the full set of tools._
18. To line up exactly with another part, layer, or mark, or to adjust something, such as printing plates, so that it does.
   - Simple: To fit exactly in line with another part, or to make parts line up exactly.
   - _The holes in the two panels must register before the bolts will fit._
   - _On the misprinted page, the red layer never registered with the black outline._

## Noun

2. An official list or record of names, events, or transactions, or the book in which it is kept.
   - Simple: An official list of names or events, or the book it is written in.
   - _The old mill was added to the national register of historic places._
   - _Every share transfer appears in the company's register of shareholders._
4. Short for cash register: a machine that records sales and holds the money, or the counter in a store where customers pay. *(US)* — Ellipsis of cash register.
   - Simple: Short for cash register: a machine that records sales and holds money, or the place in a store where you pay.
   - _He rang up the groceries at the register while chatting with the customer._
   - _The register came up twenty dollars short at closing._
7. A tiny, extremely fast memory location that the central processing unit can reach directly, used mostly to hold the inputs, outputs, and interim results of calculations.
   - Simple: A tiny, very fast storage space inside a computer chip that holds the numbers the chip is working on.
   - _The compiler keeps the loop counter in a register to avoid slow memory access._
   - _Modern processors include dozens of general-purpose registers._
11. A style or variety of language used in a particular social context or setting.
   - Simple: A style of speaking or writing used in a particular situation, such as at school or at home.
   - _Legal documents are written in a formal register that few people use in conversation._
   - _She shifts registers effortlessly, from boardroom jargon to playground slang._
12. The range of notes that a voice or musical instrument can produce, or a distinct part of that range with its own tone.
   - Simple: All the notes a voice or instrument can make, or one part of them, such as the high or low notes.
   - _The clarinet's lowest register has a dark, woody sound._
   - _His voice sounds thin in its upper register but rich and warm in the lower one._
13. The act or process of registering something, such as a birth, deed, or vehicle.
   - Simple: The act of putting something or someone on an official list.
14. A grille fitted at the outlet of a ventilation duct, with a damper or louvers that can be opened or closed to direct or shut off the airflow.
   - Simple: A cover over an air vent that you can open or close to change the air flow.
   - _She angled the registers so the heat blew toward the center of the room._
   - _Dust had collected on the ceiling register above the hallway._
15. An individual entry in an official book of records, such as a parish or civil record of a birth or marriage.
   - Simple: One item written down in an official book of records.
16. A person who keeps official records; a registrar, especially a public officer responsible for recording certain transactions or events.
   - Simple: A person whose job is to keep official records of events like births or land sales.
   - _The county register recorded the deed the same afternoon it was signed._
   - _He served as register of probate for nearly twenty years._
19. The exact alignment of printed lines, margins, and colors with one another.
   - Simple: The exact way printed lines and colors line up with each other.
   - _The pressman adjusted the plates until the register was perfect._
   - _Cheap comic books from the 1950s often show poor register, with colors bleeding past the outlines._
20. A device that automatically records a quantity, such as the counting mechanism on a water or gas meter.
   - Simple: A machine or part that counts and records an amount by itself.
   - _The meter's register showed the household had used twelve thousand gallons._
   - _Inspectors checked the register on each pump to verify the volume of fuel dispensed._
21. An official certificate issued by a maritime or customs authority, describing a vessel and its registered ownership, kept aboard as evidence of nationality.
   - Simple: An official paper kept on a ship that shows its name, owner, and home country.
   - _Customs officers boarded the freighter and asked to inspect its register._
   - _The schooner's register listed a merchant in Boston as her owner._

## Other meanings

- (noun) An organ stop: one or more ranks of pipes selected together to produce a particular tone color.
- (noun) One of several distinct horizontal (or, more rarely, vertical) sections into which a work of art or an inscription is divided.
- (noun) The component of a telegraphic apparatus that automatically records the incoming message.
- (noun) A list of the calls a telephone has received, kept in the phone's memory.

## Origin

The source is Latin regerō ("to record, to carry back"), made of re- and gerō ("to carry, bear"). It led to Late Latin regesta ("list, items recorded") and then to Medieval Latin registrum, which English adopted. A few senses were shaped by Latin regō ("to rule"), a word people linked to it though the two are unrelated.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/register (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).