Collection

How to spell collection

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce collection

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does collection mean?

1. nounA group of objects or items gathered together, often as a related set.
2. nounThe act of gathering money, payments, or items, or an occasion on which this is done.

Collection in a sentence

• Her stamp collection filled three thick albums.

• The charity organised a street collection on Saturday morning.

• The museum unveiled a new collection of ancient coins.

• Rubbish collection happens every Tuesday on our road.

Where does collection come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin collectio, meaning a gathering together, which was formed from the verb colligere, 'to collect' or 'to gather up'. That verb breaks down into com-, meaning 'together', and legere, meaning 'to gather, pick, or read', so the literal idea was of things picked up and brought into one place. English borrowed the word through Old French collection during the 1300s, first in the sense of gathering objects or money and later for any assembled set of things. The same legere root quietly survives in a whole family of English words, including 'lecture', 'select', and 'elect', all of which carry the notion of picking or gathering. The doubled l in collection comes straight from the Latin assimilation of com- to col- before the l of legere, which is why one l alone is a common slip.

How the word is built

• col- (from com-: together)
• lect (from legere: to gather)
• -ion (noun suffix)