English
collect
Etymology 1

From Middle English collecten, a borrowing from Old French collecter, from Medieval Latin collectare, from Latin collecta, feminine of collectus, past participle of colligere, conligere, from com- ("together") + legere, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-.

Pronunciation
  • IPA: /kəˈlɛkt/
Verb

collect (collects, present participle collecting; simple past and past participle collected)

  1. (transitive) To gather together; amass.
    Suzanne collected all the papers she had laid out.
    The team uses special equipment to collect data on temperature, wind speed and rainfall.
  2. (transitive) To get; particularly, get from someone.
    A bank collects a monthly payment on a client's new car loan.   A mortgage company collects a monthly payment on a house.
  3. (transitive) To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation.
    John Henry collects stamps.
    I don't think he collects as much as hoards.
    My friend from school has started to collects mangas and novels recently
  4. (transitive) To pick up or fetch [someone, in a vehicle]
    Can you collect me from the airport?
  5. (transitive, now, rare) To form a conclusion; to deduce, infer. (Compare gather, get.)
    • 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, Chapter XVII ↗, section 20:
      […] which consequence, I conceive, is very ill collected.
    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, pages 292–3:
      the riot is so great that it is very difficult to collect what is being said.
  6. (intransitive, often with on or against) To collect payments.
    He had a lot of trouble collecting on that bet he made.
  7. (intransitive) To come together in a group or mass.
    The rain collected in puddles.
  8. (transitive) To infer; to conclude.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
      Whence some collect that the former word imports a plurality of persons.
  9. (transitive, of a vehicle or driver) To collide with or crash into (another vehicle or obstacle).
    The truck veered across the central reservation and collected a car that was travelling in the opposite direction.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adjective

collect (not comparable)

  1. To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment.
    It was to be a collect delivery, but no-one was available to pay.
Translations
  • Portuguese: a cobrar
Adverb

collect (not comparable)

  1. With payment due from the recipient.
    I had to call collect.
Etymology 2

From Middle English collecte, from el. collēcta, originally designating the gathering at the beginning of a liturgical celebration.

Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈkɑlɪkt/, /ˈkɑlɛkt/
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈkɒlɪkt/, /ˈkɒlɛkt/
Noun

collect (plural collects) (sometimes capitalized)

  1. (Christianity) The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson, especially one found in a prayerbook, as with the Book of Common Prayer.
    He used the day's collect as the basis of his sermon.
Translations

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