Collect: Gathering Things, People or Payments
To collect is to gather things together. It also means to fetch someone, to receive payment, and in older English to regain composure.
Collect covers everything from stamps to taxes. Its most easily missed sense is reflexive: to collect yourself is to gather your scattered thoughts, which is exactly the same action applied inward.
- To gather things together. *She collects old maps.*
- To fetch someone. *I will collect the children at four.*
- To receive money owed. *Collect the rent monthly.*
- To regain composure. *He paused to collect himself.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | collect | Collect the forms. |
| Noun | collection | A private collection. |
| Person | collector | A stamp collector. |
| Adjective | collective | A collective decision. |
| Adjective | collected | Calm and collected. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Parcels can be collected from the depot.British — Americans usually say picked up.
- Dust had collected on the shelf.Intransitive — it accumulated by itself.
- She called collect from the airport.American — a reverse-charge call.
Collect, gather, accumulate and amass
- Collect — bring together, often deliberately and by category
- Gather — bring together, with no implication of system
- Accumulate — build up gradually, often without intention
- Amass — build up a large quantity, usually of wealth
- Only collect implies that the collector cares which items belong
From Latin *colligere*, to gather together, from *com* (together) and *legere* (to gather or read). The same *legere* gives lecture, legend and select — reading was originally a kind of picking out.
Collect or pick up?
Both are correct. Collect is more common in British English for parcels and children; pick up dominates in American English.
What does calm and collected mean?
Composed under pressure. Collected here means the thoughts have been gathered rather than scattered.