inventory

English

Etymology

From Middle English inventorie, from Old French inventoire (whence French inventaire), from Late Latin inventarium, from Latin invenire (“to find out”).

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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:list

Related terms

• invent
• invented
• inventive
• invention
• inventor
• reinvent

Translations

stock of an item on hand at a particular location or business

• Catalan: inventari (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 庫存 (zh), 库存 (zh) (kùcún), 儲存 (zh), 储存 (zh) (chúcún)

• Esperanto: inventaro
• Finnish: varasto (fi)
• French: inventaire (fr) m
• German: Inventar (de) n, Lager (de) n
• Hungarian: készlet (hu), árukészlet (hu), raktár (hu) (in the phrase raktáron van)

• Italian: scorta (it)
• Japanese: 在庫 (ja) (ざいこ, zaiko)
• Portuguese: inventário (pt) m, existências f pl (Portugal)
• Russian: инвента́рь (ru) m (inventárʹ), запа́сы (ru) m pl (zapásy)
• Spanish: inventario (es) m
• Swedish: lager (sv) n, inventarier (sv) pl
• Tagalog: talatinggalan
• Uyghur: زاپاس‎ (zapas), قالدۇق‎ (qalduq), ئامبار زاپىسى‎ (ambar zapisi), خەزىنە قالدۇقى‎ (xezine qalduqi), ئىسكىلات قالدۇقى‎ (iskilat qalduqi)

detailed list of all of the items on hand

• Catalan: inventari (ca) m
• Czech: inventář (cs) m
• Esperanto: inventaro
• Finnish: varastoluettelo, inventaari; pesäluettelo (fi) (of an estate)
• Galician: inventario m
• German: Inventar (de) n
• Hungarian: leltár (hu), kimutatás (hu)

• Italian: inventario (it)
• Maori: rārangi taputapu
• Portuguese: inventário (pt) m
• Russian: рее́стр (ru) m (rejéstr)
• Spanish: inventario (es) m
• Swedish: inventarieförteckning c, lagersaldo n, inventering (sv) c
• Tagalog: talatinggalan

process of producing or updating such a list

• Catalan: inventari (ca) m
• Czech: inventura (cs) f
• Dutch: inventariseren (nl) n
• Esperanto: inventarado
• Finnish: inventointi (fi)
• Galician: inventario m
• German: Inventur (de) f

• Hungarian: leltár (hu), leltározás
• Italian: inventario (it)
• Portuguese: inventário (pt) m
• Russian: инвентариза́ция (ru) f (inventarizácija), о́пись (ru) f (ópisʹ), переучёт (ru) m (pereučót), учёт (ru) m (učót)
• Serbo-Croatian: попис m (popis)
• Spanish: inventario (es) m
• Swedish: inventering (sv) c

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.

Synonyms

• index
• inventorize
• take inventory
• take stock

Translations

to take stock of the resources or items on hand; to produce an inventory

• Catalan: inventariar (ca)
• Dutch: inventariseren (nl)
• Finnish: inventoida
• French: inventorier (fr)
• Galician: inventariar

• German: Inventur machen
• Hungarian: leltároz (hu)
• Portuguese: inventariar, fazer o inventário
• Spanish: inventariar (es)
• Swedish: inventera (sv)

Further reading

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