collection Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun several things grouped together or considered as a whole
    assemblage; aggregation; accumulation.
  2. noun a publication containing a variety of works
    compendium.
  3. noun request for a sum of money
    appeal; solicitation; ingathering.
    • an appeal to raise money for starving children
  4. noun the act of gathering something together
    collecting; assembling; aggregation.

WordNet

Col*lec"tion noun
Etymology
L. collectio: cf. F. collection.
Definitions
  1. The act or process of collecting or of gathering; as, the collection of specimens.
  2. That which is collected; as: (a) A gathering or assemblage of objects or of persons. "A collection of letters." Macaulay. (b) A gathering of money for charitable or other purposes, as by passing a contribution box for freewill offerings. "The collection for the saints." 1 Cor. xvi. 1 (c) (Usually in pl.) That which is obtained in payment of demands. (d) An accumulation of any substance. "Collections of moisture." Whewell. "A purulent collection." Dunglison.
  3. The act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts; also, that which is inferred. Obs.
    We may safely say thus, that wrong collections have been hitherto made out of those words by modern divines. Milton.
  4. The jurisdiction of a collector of excise. Eng. Syn. -- Gathering; assembly; assemblage; group; crowd; congregation; mass; heap; compilation.

Webster 1913