registry

The word “registry” means an official record or list, or the office that keeps it. In plain terms, an official record book or office — or, on a Windows PC, the hidden settings database the operating system relies on.

“Registry” is pronounced REHD-zhihst-ree (/ˈɹɛd͡ʒɪstɹi/ in IPA).

Here is “registry” used in a sentence: “They got married at the local registry office.”

“Registry” is a noun.

“Registry” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Registry” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an official record or list, or the office that keeps it.

A registry is specifically an official record or list, or the office that maintains it, often used for legal or administrative purposes such as births, marriages, or businesses. A database is a broader technical term for any organized collection of data that can be searched and updated, and a registry can be one type of database. In computing, "registry" also has a specific meaning as the central configuration store in Windows.

The Windows registry is a single central database that stores system and program configuration settings for the whole operating system. A config file, by contrast, is a separate file used by an individual program to store its own settings outside the registry. Windows relies on the registry as a unified store, while many other systems use scattered config files instead.

Registry refers to an office when the context is about the physical or administrative body that keeps official records, as in "visit the registry to file the document." It refers to a list or record when the context is about the data itself, as in "the marriage was entered in the registry."