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Origin and history of collection

collection(n.)

late 14c., "action of collecting, practice of gathering together," from Old French collection (14c.), from Latin collectionem (nominative collectio) "a gathering together," noun of action from past-participle stem of colligere "gather together" (see collect).

Especially of money gathered for religious or charitable purposes from 1530s. Meaning "a group of objects viewed as a whole" is from c. 1400; sense of "an assemblage of gathered objects" is from mid-15c. Meaning "act of receiving or compelling payment of money owed" is from 1650s.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to collection

collect(v.)

early 15c., "gather into one place or group" (transitive), from Old French collecter "to collect" (late 14c.), from Latin collectus, past participle of colligere "gather together," from assimilated form of com "together" (see com-) + legere "to gather," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather."

The intransitive sense "gather together, accumulate" is attested from 1794. Related: Collected; collecting. As an adjective or adverb meaning "paid by the recipient," it is attested from 1893, originally with reference to telegrams.

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    aggregation
    early 15c., aggregacioun, originally in medicine (Chauliac), "formation of a pustule," from Medieval Latin aggregationem (nominative aggregatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin aggregare "collect, bring together," from ad "to" (see ad-) + gregare "to collect in
    accumulation
    late 15c., "that which is heaped up, an accumulated mass," from Latin accumulationem (nominative accumulatio) "a heaping up," noun of action from past-participle stem of accumulare "to heap up, amass," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + cumulare "heap up," from cumu
    solicitation
    late 15c., solicitacioun, "management," from French solicitation and directly from Latin solicitationem (nominative solicitatio) "vexation, disturbance, instigation," noun of action from past-participle stem of solicitare "to disturb, rouse, stimulate, provoke" (see solicit). The
    anthology
    1630s, "collection of poetry," from Latin anthologia, from Greek anthologia "collection of small poems and epigrams by several...authors," literally "flower-gathering," from anthos "a flower" (see anther) + logia "collection, collecting," from legein...
    discotheque
    nightclub with recorded music for dancing" (by 1951), also "record library," borrowed 1932 from Italian discoteca "record collection..., record library," coined 1927 from disco "phonograph record" (see disc) + -teca "collection" (from Latinized combining form...
    Mother Goose
    The phrase appeared on the frontispiece of Charles Perrault's 1697 collection of eight fairy tales ("Contes du Temps Passé..."), which was translated in English 1729 as "Mother Goose's Tales", and a very popular collection of traditional nursery...
    divan
    Oriental council of state," from Turkish divan, from Arabic diwan, from Persian devan "bundle of written sheets, small book, collection...The sofa/couch sense was taken into English 1702; the "book of poems" sense (especially a collection by a single author)...
    mass
    late 14c., "irregular shaped lump; body of unshaped, coherent matter," from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley c
    compendium
    "brief compilation containing the general principles or leading points of a longer system or work," 1580s, from a Medieval Latin use of Latin compendium "a shortening, saving," literally "that which is weighed together," from compendere "to weigh together," from com "with, togeth
    exposition
    late 14c., exposicioun, "explanation, narration," from Old French esposicion "explanation, interpretation" (12c.) and directly from Latin expositionem (nominative expositio) "a setting or showing forth; narration, explanation," noun of action from past-participle stem of exponere

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