Collector Meaning
/kəˈlɛk.tɚ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person who or thing that collects, or which creates or manages a collection.
nounA person who is employed to collect payments.
Sentence Examples
The garbage collector comes three times a week.
He is something of a stamp collector.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stamp ____ carefully organized his rare finds by country and year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is an avid stamp ____ who travels the world seeking rare items.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English collectour, from Anglo-Norman collectour, from Late Latin collēctor, from Latin colligō (“to gather together”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stamp ____ carefully organized his rare finds by country and year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is an avid stamp ____ who travels the world seeking rare items.