Col*lect" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Collected; p. pr. & vb. n. Collecting.] [L. collecrus, p. p. of collerige to bind together; col- + legere to gather: cf. OF. collecter. See Legend, and cf. Coil, v. t., Cull, v. t.] 1. To gather into one body or place; to assemble or bring together; to obtain by gathering.

A band of men
Collected choicely from each country.
Shak.

'Tis memory alone that enriches the mind, by preserving what our labor and industry daily collect.
Watts.

2. To demand and obtain payment of, as an account, or other indebtedness; as, to collect taxes.

3. To infer from observed facts; to conclude from premises. [Archaic.] Shak.

Which sequence, I conceive, is very ill collected.
Locke.

Syn. -- To gather; assemble; congregate; muster; accumulate; garner; aggregate; amass; infer; deduce.

Col*lect", v. i. 1. To assemble together; as, the people collected in a crowd; to accumulate; as, snow collects in banks.

2. To infer; to conclude. [Archaic]

Whence some collect that the former word imports a plurality of persons.
South.

Col"lect, n. [LL. collecta, fr. L. collecta a collection in money; an assemblage, fr. collerige: cf. F. collecte. See Collect, v. t.] A short, comprehensive prayer, adapted to a particular day, occasion, or condition, and forming part of a liturgy.

The noble poem on the massacres of Piedmont is strictly a collect in verse.
Macaulay.

• a prayer in a Mass or Eucharistic service in which the presider gathers together the silent prayers of the congregation and voices them as the leader
        The Collect today set the tone for the liturgy.
  
• Gather together; amass items.
        Suzanne collected all the papers she had laid out.
  
• Get; particularly, get from someone.
        A bank collects a monthly payment on a client's new car loan.
        A mortgage company collects a monthly payment on a house.
  
• Accumulate similar items or items belonging to a particular theme, particularly for a hobby or recreation.
        John Henry collects stamps.