Standard Lemma guide

collection

noun · 14 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kəˈlɛkʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛkʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 L EH1 K SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A set of items or amount of material procured, gathered or presented together.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The attic contains a remarkable collection of antiques, oddities, and random junk.
  • The asteroid belt consists of a collection of dust, rubble, and minor planets.
  • This year's Summer Collection will include a wide range of evening wear.
  • He has a big collection of stamps.
  • He has a superb coin collection.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A set of pitch classes used by a composer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The activity of collecting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Collection of trash will occur every Thursday.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A set of sets; used because such a thing is in general too large to comply with the formal definition of a set.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematical-analysis, mathematics, sciences, set-theory, topology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A gathering of money for charitable or other purposes, as by passing a contribution box for donations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Debt collection.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts; also, that which is inferred.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

The jurisdiction of a collector of excise.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A set of college exams generally taken at the start of the term.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, plural-normally, uncountable

Qualifier: Oxford University

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

The quality of being collected; calm composure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

the act of gathering something together

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: collecting, assembling, aggregation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grouping

Narrower terms: agglomeration, collation, compilation, compiling, gather, gathering, bottle collection, conchology, shell collecting, numismatics, numismatology, coin collecting, coin collection, pickup, philately, stamp collecting, stamp collection, tax collection

12

noun

Meaning 12

request for a sum of money

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an appeal to raise money for starving children

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: solicitation, appeal, ingathering

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: request, petition, postulation

Narrower terms: whip-round

13

noun

Meaning 13

a publication containing a variety of works

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: compendium

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: publication

Narrower terms: anthology, archives, compilation, digest

14

noun

Meaning 14

several things grouped together or considered as a whole

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aggregation, accumulation, assemblage

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: group, grouping

Narrower terms: procession, pharmacopoeia, string, wardrobe, population, universe, armamentarium, art collection, backlog, battery, block, book, rule book, bottle collection, bunch, lot, caboodle, coin collection, collage, content, ensemble, tout ensemble, corpus, crop, tenantry, findings, flagging, flinders, pack, hand, deal, long suit, herbarium, stamp collection, statuary, sum, summation, sum total, agglomeration, gimmickry, nuclear club, pile, heap, mound, agglomerate, cumulation, cumulus, mass, combination, congregation, hit parade, Judaica, kludge, library, program library, subroutine library, mythology, biota, biology, fauna, zoology, petting zoo, set, Victoriana, class, category, family, job lot, package, bundle, packet, parcel, defense, defence, defense team, defense lawyers, prosecution, planting, signage, generally accepted accounting principles, GAAP, pantheon, Free World, Third World, Europe, Asia, North America, Central America, South America, Oort cloud, galaxy, extragalactic nebula, fleet, repertoire, repertory, assortment, mixture, mixed bag, miscellany, miscellanea, variety, salmagundi, smorgasbord, potpourri, motley, batch, clutch, rogue's gallery, exhibition, exposition, expo, convoy, traffic, aviation, air power, vegetation, flora, botany, law, jurisprudence, menagerie, data, information, ana, mail, post, treasure, treasure trove, trinketry, troponymy, troponomy, smithereens, Nag Hammadi, Nag Hammadi Library, Wise Men, Magi

History

Etymology

From Middle English colleccioun, collection, from Old French collection, from Latin collēctiō, collēctiōnem, from collēctus, from colligō (“collect together”), composed of con- + legō (“bring together, gather, collect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather, collect”). Equivalent to collect + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

216 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: versameling — set of items
  • Afrikaans: kolleksie — set of items
  • Albanian: koleksion — set of items
  • Arabic: مَجْمُوعَة (majmūʕa) — set of items
  • Arabic: جَمْع (jamʕ) — set of items
  • Armenian: հավաքածու (havakʻacu) — set of items
  • Armenian: ժողովածու (žoġovacu) — set of items
  • Assamese: থুঁপ (thũp) — set of items
  • Assamese: সংগ্ৰহ (xoṅgroh) — set of items
  • Asturian: coleición — set of items
  • Azerbaijani: kolleksiya — set of items
  • Belarusian: кале́кцыя (kaljékcyja) — set of items
  • Belarusian: збор (zbor) — set of items
  • Bulgarian: сбор (sbor) — set of items
  • Bulgarian: съби́ране (sǎbírane) — set of items
  • Bulgarian: коле́кция (kolékcija) — set of items
  • Catalan: col·lecció — set of items
  • Chinese Mandarin: 集 (jí) — set of items
  • Chinese Mandarin: 收藏 (shōucáng) — set of items
  • Czech: sbírka — set of items
  • Danish: samling — set of items
  • Dutch: collectie — set of items
  • Dutch: verzameling — set of items
  • Esperanto: kolekto — set of items
  • Estonian: kogu — set of items
  • Estonian: kollektsioon — set of items
  • Finnish: kokoelma — set of items
  • French: collection — set of items
  • Galician: colección — set of items
  • Georgian: კრებული (ḳrebuli) — set of items
  • German: Sammlung — set of items
  • German: Kollektion — set of items
  • Greek: συλλογή (syllogí) — set of items
  • Ancient Greek: συναγωγή (sunagōgḗ) — set of items
  • Mycenaean Greek: 𐀀𐀒𐀨 (a-ko-ra) — set of items
  • Hebrew: אוסף — set of items
  • Hebrew: אֹסֶף (ósef) — set of items
  • Hindi: संग्रह (saṅgrah) — set of items
  • Hindi: संभार (sambhār) — set of items
  • Hungarian: gyűjtemény — set of items
  • Hungarian: kollekció — set of items
  • Hungarian: sorozat — set of items
  • Icelandic: safn — set of items
  • Indonesian: koleksi — set of items
  • Indonesian: kumpulan — set of items
  • Irish: bailiúchán — set of items
  • Italian: raccolta — set of items
  • Italian: collezione — set of items
  • Japanese: コレクション (korekushon) — set of items
  • Kazakh: жинақтама (jinaqtama) — set of items
  • Kazakh: топтама (toptama) — set of items
  • Korean: 수집 (sujip) — set of items
  • Korean: 컬렉션 (keolleksyeon) — set of items
  • Kyrgyz: коллекция (kollektsiya) — set of items
  • Latin: collēctus — set of items
  • Latin: congeriēs — set of items
  • Latin: congestus — set of items
  • Latvian: krājums — set of items
  • Latvian: kolekcija — set of items
  • Lithuanian: kolekcija — set of items
  • Livonian: kolektsij — set of items
  • Macedonian: збирка (zbirka) — set of items
  • Macedonian: колекција (kolekcija) — set of items
  • Malay: koleksi — set of items
  • Malay: kumpulan — set of items
  • Māori: rokiroki — set of items
  • Marathi: संग्रह (saṅgrah) — set of items
  • Norwegian Bokmål: samling — set of items
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: samling — set of items
  • Pashto: مجموعه (majmo'a) — set of items
  • Persian: کلکسیون (koleksyon) — set of items
  • Persian: مجموعه (majmu'e) — set of items
  • Persian: گردایه (gerdāye) — set of items
  • Polish: zbiór — set of items
  • Polish: kolekcja — set of items
  • Portuguese: coleção — set of items
  • Romanian: colectare — set of items
  • Romanian: colecție — set of items
  • Russian: колле́кция (kollékcija) — set of items
  • Russian: собра́ние (sobránije) — set of items
  • Russian: сбо́рник (sbórnik) — set of items
  • Scottish Gaelic: cruinneachadh — set of items
  • Serbo-Croatian: зби̑рка — set of items
  • Serbo-Croatian: колѐкција — set of items
  • Serbo-Croatian: zbȋrka — set of items
  • Serbo-Croatian: kolèkcija — set of items
  • Slovak: zbierka — set of items
  • Slovene: zbirka — set of items
  • Lower Sorbian: zběrka — set of items
  • Upper Sorbian: hromadźenje — set of items
  • Upper Sorbian: zhromadźenje — set of items
  • Upper Sorbian: zběrka — set of items
  • Southern Altai: коллекция (kollekciya) — set of items
  • Southern Altai: јууш (ǰuuš) — set of items
  • Spanish: colección — set of items
  • Swedish: samling — set of items
  • Tajik: коллексия (kolleksiya) — set of items
  • Tajik: маҷмӯа (majmüa) — set of items
  • Telugu: సేకరణ (sēkaraṇa) — set of items
  • Thai: เหล่า (lào) — set of items
  • Turkish: toplama — set of items
  • Turkish: koleksiyon — set of items
  • Ukrainian: коле́кція (kolékcija) — set of items
  • Ukrainian: зібра́ння (zibránnja) — set of items
  • Ukrainian: збі́рка (zbírka) — set of items
  • Urdu: مَجْمُوعَہ (majmū'ā) — set of items
  • Urdu: جَمْع (jam') — set of items
  • Uzbek: kolleksiya — set of items
  • Vietnamese: bộ sưu tập — set of items
  • Vietnamese: kho tàng — set of items
  • Volapük: konlet — set of items
  • Welsh: casgliad — set of items
  • Armenian: հավաքածու (havakʻacu) — multiple related objects
  • Armenian: ժողովածու (žoġovacu) — multiple related objects
  • Bulgarian: сби́рка (sbírka) — multiple related objects
  • Bulgarian: коле́кция (kolékcija) — multiple related objects
  • Danish: samling — multiple related objects
  • Finnish: kokoelma — multiple related objects
  • French: collection — multiple related objects
  • Galician: colección — multiple related objects
  • German: Sammlung — multiple related objects
  • German: Kollektion — multiple related objects
  • German: Menge — multiple related objects
  • Hungarian: gyűjtemény — multiple related objects
  • Irish: bailiúchán — multiple related objects
  • Italian: raccolta — multiple related objects
  • Italian: collezione — multiple related objects
  • Latvian: krājums — multiple related objects
  • Latvian: kolekcija — multiple related objects
  • Norwegian Bokmål: samling — multiple related objects
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kolleksjon — multiple related objects
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: samling — multiple related objects
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kolleksjon — multiple related objects
  • Persian: کلکسیون (koleksyon) — multiple related objects
  • Portuguese: coleção — multiple related objects
  • Russian: колле́кция (kollékcija) — multiple related objects
  • Russian: набо́р (nabór) — multiple related objects
  • Scottish Gaelic: cruinneachadh — multiple related objects
  • Serbo-Croatian: зби̑рка — multiple related objects
  • Serbo-Croatian: колѐкција — multiple related objects
  • Serbo-Croatian: zbȋrka — multiple related objects
  • Serbo-Croatian: kolèkcija — multiple related objects
  • Spanish: colección — multiple related objects
  • Spanish: conjunto — multiple related objects
  • Swedish: samling — multiple related objects
  • Telugu: సమూహము (samūhamu) — multiple related objects
  • Vietnamese: tập hợp — multiple related objects
  • Vietnamese: tập sưu tầm — multiple related objects
  • Volapük: konlet — multiple related objects
  • Arabic: جَمْع (jamʕ) — activity of collecting
  • Bulgarian: съби́ране (sǎbírane) — activity of collecting
  • Czech: sběr — activity of collecting
  • Czech: sbírání — activity of collecting
  • Danish: indsamling — activity of collecting
  • Dutch: verzamelen — activity of collecting
  • Estonian: kogumine — activity of collecting
  • Finnish: keräily — activity of collecting
  • Finnish: keräys — activity of collecting
  • Finnish: kerääminen — activity of collecting
  • French: ramassage — activity of collecting
  • French: collecte — activity of collecting
  • German: Sammeln — activity of collecting
  • German: Sammlung — activity of collecting
  • German: Abholung — activity of collecting
  • German: Einsammlung — activity of collecting
  • Hebrew: איסוף (ysuf) — activity of collecting
  • Hindi: संचयन (sañcyan) — activity of collecting
  • Hungarian: gyűjtés — activity of collecting
  • Hungarian: begyűjtés — activity of collecting
  • Hungarian: összegyűjtés — activity of collecting
  • Irish: tiomsú — activity of collecting
  • Italian: raccolta — activity of collecting
  • Latvian: vākšana — activity of collecting
  • Latvian: ievākšana — activity of collecting
  • Norwegian Bokmål: innsamling — activity of collecting
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: innsamling — activity of collecting
  • Polish: zbieranie — activity of collecting
  • Portuguese: coleta — activity of collecting
  • Portuguese: recolha — activity of collecting
  • Portuguese: recolhimento — activity of collecting
  • Romanian: colectare — activity of collecting
  • Russian: коллекциони́рование (kollekcionírovanije) — activity of collecting
  • Russian: собира́ние (sobiránije) — activity of collecting
  • Scottish Gaelic: cruinneachadh — activity of collecting
  • Serbo-Croatian: skupljanje — activity of collecting
  • Spanish: recogida — activity of collecting
  • Spanish: recolección — activity of collecting
  • Spanish: recogimiento — activity of collecting
  • Swedish: samla — activity of collecting
  • Tagalog: pangangalap — activity of collecting
  • Vietnamese: sự tập hợp — activity of collecting
  • Vietnamese: sự sưu tầm — activity of collecting
  • Volapük: konletam — activity of collecting
  • Finnish: joukkojen joukko — topology, analysis: set of sets
  • Dutch: inzameling — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Finnish: keräys — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • French: quête — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • German: Sammelung — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂 (gabaur) — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Hungarian: adománygyűjtés — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Irish: bailiúchán — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Italian: colletta — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Japanese: 募金 (bokin) — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Japanese: カンパ (kanpa) — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Norwegian Bokmål: innsamling — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: innsamling — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Polish: składka — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Polish: zrzutka — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Polish: zbiórka — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Russian: сбор (sbor) — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Spanish: colecta — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Spanish: recaudación — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Swedish: insamling — gathering of money for charitable or other purposes
  • Finnish: päättely — act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts
  • Hungarian: következtetés — act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts
  • Finnish: veronkantopiiri — jurisdiction of a collector of excise
Real reading context

collection in complete knowledge articles