inventory

Etymology

From Middle English inventorie, from Old French inventoire (French inventaire), from Late Latin inventarium

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.vən.tɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.vənˌtɔ.ɹi/

Noun

inventory (plural inventories)

1. (operations) The stock of an item on hand at a particular location or business.

   Due to an undersized inventory at the Boston outlet, customers had to travel to Providence to find the item.

2. (operations) A detailed list of all of the items on hand.

   The inventory included several items that one wouldn't normally think to find at a cheese shop.

3. (operations) The process of producing or updating such a list.

   This month's inventory took nearly three days.

4. (role-playing games) A space containing the items available to a character for immediate use.

Verb

inventory (third-person singular simple present inventories, present participle inventorying, simple past and past participle inventoried)

1. (transitive, operations) To take stock of the resources or items on hand; to produce an inventory.

   The main job of the night shift was to inventory the store, and restock when necessary.

Further reading

• inventory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• inventory in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911