Catalogi

Catalogi is the plural form of the Latin noun catalogus, meaning a list, roster, or register. In classical Latin, catalogi appeared in inscriptions and texts to denote collections of names, items, or works. The term has influenced modern words for organized lists in many languages, including the English catalog and the French catalogue.

In Latin grammar, catalogus belongs to the second declension. Its singular nominative is catalogus and its genitive is catalogi; the plural nominative is catalogi, while the genitive plural is catalogorum. This can create ambiguity in form, since catalogi may appear as either nominative plural or genitive singular, depending on context. In everyday modern usage, catalogi is typically encountered only in historical, linguistic, or scholarly discussions.

Today, catalog and its derivatives denote systematic lists of items, often with descriptive data to aid identification and retrieval. In libraries, a catalog is a bibliographic database that records items in a collection and provides search access, commonly through an online public access catalog (OPAC). Cataloging is the process of creating and maintaining these records, following standards such as MARC, RDA, or Dublin Core. In commerce and publishing, catalogs list products or works, usually including specifications, prices, and availability, and have increasingly moved from print to digital formats.

See also: catalog, catalogue, library catalog, bibliographic catalog, OPAC, bibliographic control.