Definition of "catalogue"

catalogue

/ˈkæt.əˌlɒɡ/

noun
plural catalogues
1. A systematic list of books, names, pictures, etc.
  Quotations
  [T]he charge of my moſt curious, and coſtly ingredients fraide, amounting to ſome ſeaventeene thouſand crovvnes, a trifle in reſpect of health, vvriting your noble name in my Catalogue, I ſhall acknovvledge my ſelfe amply ſatisfi'd.
  1631 (first performance), Philip Massinger, The Emperour of the East. A Tragæ-comœdie. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, published 1632, Act IV, scene iii
  He intended to publish a flora of the island, and drafted out a synonymic catalogue, into which he inserted from time to time elaborate descriptions drawn up from living specimens of the species which he was able to procure.
  1999, J. G. Baker, Flora of Mauritius and the Seychelles
  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.
  Quotations
  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, figuratively) A series of unwelcome or unpleasant things, often similar.
  Quotations
  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.
  2012 May 5, 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.
  2023 February 22, “Network News: Siemens fined after contractor's death”, in RAIL, number 977, page 9
verb
third-person singular simple present catalogues, present participle cataloguing, simple past and past participle catalogued
1. To put into a catalogue. (Discuss(+) this sense)
2. To make a catalogue of.
  Quotations
  The consequences were catalogued by the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution in 1994, which recommended several measures to constrain the emission of greenhouse gases.
  2023 March 22, 'Industry Insider', “Restoring Your Railway”, in RAIL, number 979, page 68
3. To add items (e.g. books) to an existing catalogue. (Discuss(+) this sense)
4. (philately) to value or sort stamps using a catalogue