Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INVENTORY
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pronounce
INVENTORY:
Say it "IN ven tore ee."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Our word inventory has quite a few cousins, like invent, convene, prevent, avenue, and adventure. They all belong to that huge family of words from the Latin venire, meaning "to come, to arrive," or more loosely, "to happen."
I love finding out that certain words are cousins. When I do, I look at their faces, trying to see the family resemblance.
Let's do that now:
1. To invent something is to come upon it.
2. To make an inventory is to write down everything you come upon.
3. To convene is to come together.
4. To prevent is to come before: to act sooner than something else, stopping it from happening.
5. An avenue is a way of arriving somewhere.
6. An adventure is a thing that comes to you by chance.
Let's keep going:
7. To ______vent something is to find a way to come around it: to avoid it, often in a smart or sneaky way.
8. Something __vent__ious comes to you or happens to you because of random chance, or because of outside forces.
Could you recall those last two?
What other words can you think of that belong to the venire family? Could you express their meanings in terms of coming, arriving, or happening?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "inventory" traces back to the Latin word inventarium, meaning "a list of things found." That explains why it looks like "invent," which is literally "to find something, to come upon (something)."
"Inventory" has been around in English since the late 1400s, and we've pretty much kept the meaning the same: an inventory is a list of items that you have, often with specific descriptions and amounts.
And to inventory things, or to take or make an inventory, is to make a detailed list of items that you have.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Both a noun ("Do we have that in our inventory?") and a verb ("Let's inventory the shelves").
Other forms worth knowing:
Inventories; inventoried, inventorying; inventorial, inventorially.
how to use it:
The word "inventory" is common and formal.
It's perfect for sounding precise and methodical as you talk concretely about collections of items. "The game is going well; we have lots of food, gear, and weapons in our inventory."
It's also a great choice for striking a businesslike tone as you talk abstractly about collections of facts, skills, abilities, injuries, flaws, errors, memories, experiences, categories, etc. "I think about the new word again and again, deciding where to place it in my inventory." When you use the word like this, you're suggesting that certain abstract things are like units of merchandise on a shelf, taking up space and waiting to be of use.
examples:
"He looks me over as if inventorying my whole being."
— Jandy Nelson, I'll Give You the Sun, 2014
"It was the first time he had actually taken an inventory of himself and he was amazed at the number of bruises."
— Gary Paulsen, The Voyage of the Frog, 1989
has this page helped you understand "inventory"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "inventory" without saying "take stock" or "itemize."
try it out:
Here's something I love about the song "Part of Your World" from Disney's The Little Mermaid: as Ariel is inventorying her collection of human knickknacks, she's also inventorying her own desires:
"I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty.
I've got whooz-its and whats-its galore.
You want thing-a-mabobs? I've got twenty.
But who cares? No big deal. I want more!
I wanna be where the people are.
I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing."
It's a classic example of an "I want" song, in which the main character describes exactly what they want, which drives the entire plot forward. Ariel wants to be free, to satisfy her curiosity, and to be part of the human world. The whole movie unfolds as she struggles to do so.
Can you give another example of a song (or scene) in which a character inventories their goals, hopes, or desires? How does this inventory then propel the plot?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is "Serious Words, Silliest Names."
Match each word to the silly name it evokes. For example, match "pecuniary" to Owen Cash, "hoodwink" to Howie Cheatham, and "debacle" to Oliver Sutton.
To see the answers, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Try these today:
ACUMEN: _____
GELID: _____
JOVIAL: _____
SCATTERSHOT: _____
USURIOUS: _____
Barb Dwyer
Dan Saul Knight
Levon Coates
Owen Moore
Rick O'Shea
review this word:
A. UNCALLED FOR.
B. UNSPOKEN FOR.
C. UNACCOUNTED FOR.
2.
In Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, Cora _____ an "inventory of loss," a _____ of people who were kind to her before dying or disappearing.
A. makes .. list
B. draws .. sketch
C. composes .. medley
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our word inventory has quite a few cousins, like invent, convene, prevent, avenue, and adventure. They all belong to that huge family of words from the Latin venire, meaning "to come, to arrive," or more loosely, "to happen."
The word "inventory" traces back to the Latin word inventarium, meaning "a list of things found." That explains why it looks like "invent," which is literally "to find something, to come upon (something)."
Part of speech:
The word "inventory" is common and formal.
"He looks me over as if inventorying my whole being."
Explain the meaning of "inventory" without saying "take stock" or "itemize."
Here's something I love about the song "Part of Your World" from Disney's The Little Mermaid: as Ariel is inventorying her collection of human knickknacks, she's also inventorying her own desires:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |