Collection \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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)