Dictionary

collector en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /kəˈlɛk.tə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• kə-lĕk′tər
• /kəˈlɛk.tɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English collectour, from Anglo-Norman collectour, from Late Latin collēctor, from Latin colligō (“to gather together”).

Meanings

1. A person who or thing that collects, or which creates or manages a collection.
   • The Young Collector's Handbook. By E. C. R. Hadfield and C. Hamilton Ellis. London: Oxford University Press, Amen House, E.C.4. 7½ in. × 5 in. × 1 in. 78 pp. Illustrated. Price 4s. 6d. net.—Most persons are collectors at some periods of their lives. Some outgrow the habit; with others it becomes a mania; and with still others it is a lasting habit intelligently planned as one aspect of a study of a particular subject. 1941 January, “Railway Literature”, in Railway Magazine, page 48:
   • That old piano is just a big dust collector.
   • She is an avid collector of nineteenth-century postage stamps.
   • Hungry for fame and the approval of rare-animal collector Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), Darwin deceives the Captain and his crew into believing they can get enough booty to win the pirate competition by entering Polly in a science fair. So the pirates journey to London in cheerful, blinkered defiance of the Queen, a hotheaded schemer whose royal crest reads simply “I hate pirates.” 2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club:
2. A person who is employed to collect payments.
   • Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year. 1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547
   • I should've left my phone at home 'cause this is a disaster / Callin' like a collector / Sorry, I cannot answer 2010, “Telephone”, performed by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé:
   • She works for the government as a tax collector.
3. A person who is employed to collect payments. ▸ A mafioso whose task is to collect protection money from small businesses
4. The amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor.
5. A compiler of books; one who collects scattered passages and puts them together in one book.
   • Volumes[…] without any of tthe collector's own reflections. 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
6. (historical) One holding a Bachelor of Arts in Oxford, formerly appointed to superintend some scholastic proceedings in Lent.
   • Whereupon he soon after appointed A. W. his collector in Austins; which office he kept till he was admitted Mr. of arts 1655, Anthony Wood, diaries:
7. A major sewer which collects sewerage from a number of smaller branch sewers.

Forms

Deriveds

collector shoe · tax collector · collector road · toll-collector · Boehm collector · injustice collector · specullector · collectorate · refuse collector · collectoress · collectorship · debt collector · kettle fur collector · bow collector · ticket-collector · stamp collector · subcollector · noncollector · collector's item · fog collector · pure collector · wound collector · solar collector · solar thermal collector · grievance collector · bone collector · juice collector · ticket collector · undercollector · collector lane · dust-collector · collector street · garbage collector

Relateds

collect · collection

Translations (130)

alt јуучы (person or thing that collects) · uk збира́ч (person who is employed to collect payments) · pl kolektor (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · lt kolektorius (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · mi kaikohi (person or thing that collects) · la coactor (person who is employed to collect payments) · hy կոլեկցիոներ (person or thing that collects) · la collector (person or thing that collects) · lv kolekcionāre (person or thing that collects) · sh kolekcionar (person or thing that collects) · fr collecteur (person who is employed to collect payments) · ca col·lector (person who is employed to collect payments) · pt coletor (person who is employed to collect payments) · ka კოლექტორი (person or thing that collects) · sq koleksionist (person or thing that collects) · he אספן (person or thing that collects) · uk збира́ч (person or thing that collects) · ru сбо́рщик (person or thing that collects) · it esattore (person who is employed to collect payments) · ca col·leccionador (person or thing that collects) · ceb kolektor (person who is employed to collect payments) · de Sammler (person or thing that collects) · es colector (person who is employed to collect payments) · oc colleccionaire (person or thing that collects) · es coleccionista (person or thing that collects) · gl coleccionista (person or thing that collects) · nl verzamelaar (person or thing that collects) · fi kollektori (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · ms pemungut (person or thing that collects) · fa جمع آوری (person or thing that collects) · pl kolekcjoner (person or thing that collects) · sh колектор (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · be збо́ршчык (person or thing that collects) · eo kolektanto (person or thing that collects) · xh umbuthi (person or thing that collects) · fi kerääjä (person or thing that collects) · es colector (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · bg събирач (person or thing that collects) · ka კოლექციონერი (person or thing that collects) · fr percepteur (person who is employed to collect payments) · es recaudador (person who is employed to collect payments) · ga tiomsaitheoir (person or thing that collects) · km អ្នកប្រមូល (person or thing that collects) · zu umbuthi (person or thing that collects) · sh колекционар (person or thing that collects) · ta சேகரிப்பாளர் (person or thing that collects) · ca recaptador (person who is employed to collect payments) · bg инкасатор (person who is employed to collect payments) · tt җыючы (person or thing that collects) · ro colecționar (person or thing that collects) · it esattrice (person who is employed to collect payments) · el συλλέκτης (person or thing that collects) · mi kaikohi (person who is employed to collect payments) · vo hikonletan (person or thing that collects) · lt rinkėjas (person or thing that collects) · la legulus (person or thing that collects) · cs sběratel (person or thing that collects) · bg колектор (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · fr collectionneuse (person or thing that collects) · ca col·leccionista (person or thing that collects) · fi veronkantaja (person who is employed to collect payments) · ja かけ取り (person or thing that collects) · hu gyűjtő (person or thing that collects) · fi keräilijä (person or thing that collects) · hy հավաքորդ (person or thing that collects) · yi זאַמלער (person or thing that collects) · io kolektero (person or thing that collects) · ga bailitheoir (person or thing that collects) · ms pengutip (person or thing that collects) · de Sammlerin (person or thing that collects) · ka შემგროვებელი (person or thing that collects) · be кале́ктар (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · it collettore (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · vo jikonletan (person or thing that collects) · vi nhà sưu tập (person or thing that collects) · am ሰብሳቢ (person or thing that collects) · cmn 收藏家 (person or thing that collects) · sh kolektor (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · fr collecteur (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · lt kolekcionierius (person or thing that collects) · da opkræver (person who is employed to collect payments) · it collezionista (person or thing that collects) · bg колекционер (person or thing that collects) · be калекцыяне́р (person or thing that collects) · ga cruinnitheoir (person or thing that collects) · lv krājēja (person or thing that collects) · ja 収集家 (person or thing that collects) · ca col·lector (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · nn samlar (person or thing that collects) · ja 集める人 (person or thing that collects) · de Kassierer (person who is employed to collect payments) · af versamelaar (person or thing that collects) · da indsamler (person who is employed to collect payments) · nb samler (person or thing that collects) · fr collectionneur (person or thing that collects) · br dastumer (person or thing that collects) · ia collector (person or thing that collects) · lv kolektors (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · cs výběrčí (person who is employed to collect payments) · he אספנית (person or thing that collects) · km អ្នកទារពន្ធ (person who is employed to collect payments) · fur colezionist (person or thing that collects) · uk колекціоне́р (person or thing that collects) · lb Sammler (person or thing that collects) · da skatteopkræver (person who is employed to collect payments) · et koguja (person or thing that collects) · lt kolekcininkas (person or thing that collects) · lv kolekcionārs (person or thing that collects) · da samler (person or thing that collects) · ru коллекционе́р (person or thing that collects) · ba йыйыусы (person or thing that collects) · la convector (person or thing that collects) · cmn 收稅員 /收税员 (person or thing that collects) · pt colecionador (person or thing that collects) · ceb kolektor (person or thing that collects) · pt colector (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · haw mea ʻohi (person or thing that collects) · ta சேகரிப்பான் (person or thing that collects) · sv samlare (person or thing that collects) · cs kolektor (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · lv krājējs (person or thing that collects) · vo konletan (person or thing that collects) · pt coletor (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · pl zbieracz (person or thing that collects) · cmn 收債人 /收债人 (person or thing that collects) · uk коле́ктор (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · de Kollektor (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · fr encaisseur (person who is employed to collect payments) · ru колле́ктор (amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor) · ast coleicionista (person or thing that collects)