Present participle of docket; the process of labeling, categorizing, or officially recording documents, cases, or items with reference information.
From 'docket' plus the '-ing' gerund suffix. The term evolved in legal and administrative contexts where systematic documentation became critical.
Before computers, law offices employed armies of people just for docketing—filing and labeling cases—and the word became so tied to bureaucratic order that 'undocketed' cases were considered chaos.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.