Col*lect"or (?), n. [LL.
collector one who collects: cf. F. collecteur.]
1. One who collects things which are
separate; esp., one who makes a business or practice of
collecting works of art, objects in natural history, etc.; as, a
collector of coins.
I digress into Soho to explore a bookstall.
Methinks I have been thirty years a collector.
Lamb.
2. A compiler of books; one who collects
scattered passages and puts them together in one book.
Volumes without the collector's own
reflections.
Addison.
3. (Com.) An officer appointed and
commissioned to collect and receive customs, duties, taxes, or
toll.
A great part of this is now embezzled . . . by
collectors, and other officers.
Sir W. Temple.
4. One authorized to collect
debts.
5. A bachelor of arts in Oxford, formerly
appointed to superintend some scholastic proceedings in
Lent. Todd.
