Inventory
/ˈɪnvəntɔːri/
Definitions
2 meaningsA detailed list or record of items.
/ˈɪnvəntɔːri/
A detailed list or record of items, such as goods in stock, property, or the contents of a building.
The warehouse manager is responsible for maintaining the inventory.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're moving and need to keep track of all your stuff! An inventory is like a list of everything you own, so you know what you have.
👶 For kids: A list of all the things you have, like toys or snacks!
More Examples
They took an inventory of the supplies before starting the project.
The company uses software to track its inventory levels.
How It's Used
"The store conducted a full inventory of its merchandise at the end of the fiscal year."
"The real estate agent provided an inventory of the furniture included with the house."
To make a detailed list of something.
/ˈɪnvəntɔːri/
To make a detailed list of all the items in stock or on hand.
The staff inventoried all the equipment at the end of the year.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're counting all the toys in your toy box and writing them down. That's what it means to inventory!
👶 For kids: To count all the things you have and write them down.
More Examples
The accountant inventoried the assets of the company.
They had to inventory the supplies to determine what was needed.
How It's Used
"The employees inventory the shelves every evening."
"We need to inventory the shipments as they arrive."
Idioms & expressions
Take inventory
To carefully list or assess something, often in terms of quantity or condition.
"Before selling the business, the owners decided to take inventory of all the assets."
From Middle English inventorie, from Old French inventoire, from Medieval Latin inventorium ('a list of what is found'), from Latin invenire ('to find').
Historically, inventory was used to refer primarily to a list of possessions, particularly of a deceased person or of property seized during a legal process.
Memory tip
Imagine a detective carefully listing everything in a room to solve a case - that's an inventory.
Word Origin
"to find"