Listing and list refer to any itemized series of names, words, etc., especially when recorded in a set order: a list of candidates arranged by electorate; a listing of drugs authorized for sale by the health Department. Listing is also used to mean an entry in a list : Please check your listing in the new telephone book and notify us of any mistakens.

Register and roll apply to lists of names. A register is a formal or official written record of names or transactions: a register of births or deaths. Registers are typically designed to preserve important information for future reference. A roll , on the other hand, is often a temporary listing of names, as of students in a class or soldiers in a military unit: The teacher called the roll every morning to see who was absent. Any list of names may be called a roster , but the word usually refers to a list of names of people enrolled for a particular kind of duty: a roster of nurses for weekend duty; chemists in a district rostered to provide a night-prescription service. In the armed forces, duty roster are maintained to ensure that special duties, such as guard duty, are fairly assigned to each eligible man, that is, at roughly equal intervals; the order in which names are listed on rosters , therefore, is all-important.

Inventory and catalogue refer to special kinds of listings , an inventory is a list of articles with the description and quantity of each. Inventories are periodically taken in warehouses, factories and retail stores to record the number or objects, usually in alphabetical order and often with some accompanying description. A card catalogue in a library lists the title and author of the book, periodical, etc., and perhaps other useful information, such as the number of pages, the copyright date, where and by whom the work was published, an identifying number and sometimes an indication of the subject or contents. The catalogue of a mail-order house lists the articles offered for sale, with accompanying descriptions and prices. Figuratively, any methodical listing can be called a catalogue: He gave me a long catalogue of woes: his car broke down, he had a fight with is girlfriend, he caught a cold, and so on.