Col*lec"tion (?), n. [L.
collectio: cf. F. collection.] 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.
