collection
Americannoun
-
the act of collecting.
-
something that is collected; a group of objects or an amount of material accumulated in one location, especially for some purpose or as a result of some process: a collection of unclaimed hats in the checkroom;
a stamp collection;
a collection of unclaimed hats in the checkroom;
a collection of books on Churchill.
- Synonyms:
- store, hoard, pile, heap, mass, aggregation, accumulation
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the works of art constituting the holdings of an art museum.
a history of the museum and of the collection.
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the gathered or exhibited works of a single painter, sculptor, etc..
an excellent Picasso collection.
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collections, the various holdings of an art museum organized by category, as painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, or film.
the director of the collections.
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the clothes or other items produced by a designer, especially for a seasonal line.
the spring collection.
-
a sum of money collected, especially for charity or church use.
- Synonyms:
- alms, contribution(s)
-
Manège. act of bringing or coming into a collected attitude.
noun
-
the act or process of collecting
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a number of things collected or assembled together
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a selection of clothes, esp as presented by a particular designer for a specified season
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something gathered into a mass or pile; accumulation
a collection of rubbish
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a sum of money collected or solicited, as in church
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removal, esp regular removal of letters from a postbox
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(often plural) (at Oxford University) a college examination or an oral report by a tutor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of collection
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English colleccioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin collēctiōn-, stem of collēctiō “a gathering together,” from collēct(us) “gathered together” (past participle of colligere; see collect 1) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A collection is a group of things, often a group created by someone. For example, many kids have a collection of comic books. Notice the word collect in collection. If you like to collect — that is, gather — things, chances are you might have a collection of some sort. Some common types of collections are of books, stamps, and dolls. You can also refer to a museum's "collection of art." While you might call a group of people a gathering, you would call a group of rare coins a collection.
Vocabulary lists containing collection
National Librarian Day
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 18
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Research Strategies, Using the Internet, and Using the Library
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Every World Cup, New York remembers that it is not just a city, but a collection of more than 150 countries that happen to share a subway map.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
For companies like X Square, the logic of launching an imperfect service lies in data collection for so-called embodied artificial intelligence.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
The single’s accompanying album, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News,” was an overall pop-forward collection that signified the group’s commercial breakthrough and even earned two Grammy nominations in 2005.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
And so, the opportunity to work with this guy who held Alternative Tentacles Records and so many — my record collection, so much of it is due to him.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
She loves jogging and has an extensive collection of blues albums.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
