▪ I. collection
(kəˈlɛkʃən)
Also 4 -ectioun, 6 -eccion, -eccyon, 7 colection.
[a. OF. collection (14th c. in Littré), ad. L. collectiōn-em gathering together or up, n. of action f. colligĕre to collect.]
1. The action of collecting or gathering together; e.g. in Post Office use, the gathering of letters from receiving-houses, and pillar-boxes, into the Chief Office for dispatch or delivery.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 345 Þe feste..of þe collectioun, of þe gaderynge of þe bones. 1586 Thynne in Holinshed III. 1499/1 Thus hauing set end to the discourse of the archbishops of Canturburie..order leadeth vs to a collection of the lord Cobhams. a 1644 Laud Serm. (1847) 171 It is unum aggregatum, one by collection and conjunction of many. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxiii. 202 The collection or compiling them into this one Book. 1854 Moseley Astron. lxv. (ed. 4) 214 A telescope..of enormous power in the collection of light. 1887 P.O. Notice (Oxford), New Collections and Deliveries in the City. |
2. a. spec. The action of collecting money for a religious or charitable purpose, or to defray expenses, esp. at a religious service or public meeting; also concr. the money so collected. † in collection: in receipt of parish relief (obs.); so † to take collection. Also attrib.
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxiv. 9 That they shulde bringe in to the Lorde the colleccion which Moses..appointed. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 92 The deacons (whose office was to make collections for the poore). 1666 Evelyn Diary 10 Oct., After which was a collection for the distress'd loosers in the late fire. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 42 It will be as much to his reward in the next world..to have saved one that takes collection, as him that is able to relieve half the town. 1702 Gainsborough Parish Reg. 21 Jan., Buried—Elizabeth diks widdow, in collection. 1740 Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 260, I made a collection in our congregation for the relief of the poor. 1872 W. E. Scudamore Notitia Euchar. 325 The Rubric of 1549..and that of 1552..both imply that..the collection was for the use of the poor only. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxiv. 227 The collection-plate began its rounds. 1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 212 He was astonished to see a sovereign on the collection-plate. 1904 Daily Chron. 19 Mar. 9/1 Collection-box robberies. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 16 May 2/1 The net result will be an addition of eight per cent. to the collection income. |
b. The gathering in of money due, as taxes or private debts.
| 1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerp. 161 Augustus wil'd the Publicans to stay, From grudg'd Collections, on the Saturday. 1742 N. James Poems 123 Where nine-pence a day Does the drudg'ry repay And one half must be spent in collection. |
| 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. ii. 603 The old precedents..did not authorize its collection in inland places. |
3. concr. A number of objects collected or gathered together, viewed as a whole; a group of things collected and arranged: a. in a general sense; e.g. of extracts, historical or literary materials.
| 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 1 To gader eld exposiciones upon Scripture into o collection. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. Def. 3. 2 Number is nothyng els but a collection of vnities. 1586 Thynne ibid. II. 454/1, I will here set downe a collection of all the archbishops of that see. 1646 Suckling's Fragmenta Aurea (title-p.), A Collection of all his incomparable Pieces. 1678 Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 132 His lady's papers, most of which consisted of Prayers, Meditations..and Collections on several religious subjects. 1705 Addison Italy Pref., To make such Collections out of 'em [the Classics] as I might afterwards have Occasion for. 1769–72 Junius Lett. Ded. 5 A collection of letters. 1853 Trench Proverbs 3 Aristotle made a collection of proverbs. 1872 E. Peacock Mabel Heron I. vi. 94 A collection of bits of string. 1878 J. E. B. Mayor Comm. on Juvenal ii. Pref. 9, I have on all the satires collections on the same scale as the fullest here printed. |
| fig. a 1721 Prior Henry & Emma 643 No perjured knight desires to quit thy arms, Fairest collection of thy sex's charms. |
b. of scientific specimens, objects of interest, works of art, etc. spec. The range of clothes (as for a season, etc.) displayed by a fashion designer; a display of such apparel.
| 1651 Evelyn Diary (1827) II. 32 He had a very curious collection of scarabees. 1681 Ray Corr. (1848) 130, I had not leisure..to view your rare collection of plants. 1705 Addison Italy Pref., Vast Collections of all Kinds of Antiquities. 1722 Journ. thro' Eng. I. 260, I must own that I have seen much finer Collections abroad than this here. 1870 Magnusson Lilja Introd. 24 The Banksian collection of Icelandic MSS. 1886 Morley Pop. Culture Crit. Misc. III. 3 Why..should not a portion of the Castellani collection pass six months of the year in Birmingham? a 1891 Mod. A large collection of postage stamps. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 10 Apr. 4/5 (Advt.), Every garment in the collection measures up fully to the demands that even the most critical women could make. 1925 Studio Autumn no. 171/2 (Advt.), Nicole Groult..will show her spring collection of gowns, cloaks and hats from the 17th till the 29th March at 13 Bruton St. 1936 ‘R. West’ Thinking Reed viii. 263, I suppose living in Paris you go to see all the collections. 1951 I. Shaw Troubled Air xxii. 394 A gown from a French collection. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 77 In Paris there are two collections a year. |
c. A quantity of anything, as water, which has collected into one mass; an accumulation.
| 1697 Bp. Patrick Comm. Exodus vii. 19 There were here and there, other Collections of Water. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 209 The same collection of floating vapours. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. xliv. 258 The Israelites [thought]..that the rain came from a collection of waters above the firmament. |
† 4. A summing up, an abstract, summary. Obs.
| 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 35 As by a briefe collection of the whole Chapter..shall appeare. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden Soc.) 14 Mr. Attourney reade the colleccion of the examination. 1646 F. Hawkins Youths Behaviour (1663) 24 To make a little Epilogue, and brief collection of what thou deliverest. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 167 This is a brief Collection, and indeed the whole Sum of Turning. |
† 5. The action of inferring or deducing; an inference, deduction, conclusion. Obs. [L. collectio.]
| 1529 More Heresyes i. Wks. 155/1 By a collection & discourse of reason. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1653) 653 From hence Hierom Cardan would make this collection, that of every corrupted living Creature another doth proceed. 1643 Milton Divorce viii. (1851) 42 Wrong collections have been hitherto made out of those words by modern Divines. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. III. 538 One was the Object of Sense..the Other..the Collection of Reason. |
6. The action of collecting or bringing under control (one's thoughts, etc.); the action of collecting oneself, or state of being collected; composure. (See collect v. 3, collected 2.)
| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. i, Most severe In fashion and collection of himself. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 153 ¶14 Without any change of posture, or collection of countenance. 1862 Trench Mirac. xv. 260 In danger of losing the true collection and rest of the spirit. 1868 Kingsley Hermits 127 Without habitual collection and re-collection of our own selves from time to time. |
7. A district under the jurisdiction of a collector of customs, taxes, etc.; a collectorate.
| 1786 Burke W. Hastings Wks. XI. 483 In the adminstration of the collections of Benares. 1880 Act 43 & 44 Vict. c. 24 §95 The collector of the collection in which the rectifier's premises are situate. |
8. pl. An examination at the end of each term in the colleges of the University of Oxford; thence adopted at Durham, and elsewhere.
| 1799 C. K. Sharpe in Corr. (1888) I. 89 We are all in a sad fuss here [Oxford] about Collections, which come on next week. 1807 Sir W. Hamilton Let. in Veitch Life, I have been so busy with collections, which are public examinations at the end of each term on all the books we have read during the continuance of the term. 1881 Durham Univ. Jrnl. 2 July 117 The schools are impending—Collections hover near. 1886 Lyte Hist. Univ. Oxford 218 The examinations called ‘collections’, which are nowadays held in the colleges of Oxford at the end of each academical term, are said to derive their name from the ‘collecta,’ or ingathering of fees, which was anciently made at the corresponding times. |
¶ As a rendering of L. collecta (cf. collect n. 2).
| 1609 Bible (Douay) Deut. xvi. 8 In the seventh day, because it is the collection [1611 a solemne assembly] of our Lord thy God. |
▪ II. † collection, v. Obs. nonce-wd.
[cf. F. collectionner to make a collection, to collect specimens.]
trans. To collect, make into a collection.
| 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. i. 346 If..such Tryals, were by proper hands collection'd, collation'd, and edition'd. |