Etymologically
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collector

Etymology and origin of the English word collector

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1380
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman collectour via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (colligō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /kəˈlek.tə/, US /kəˈlek.tɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English collectour, borrowed from Anglo-Norman collectour,[2][3] from Medieval Latin collēctor (“one who collects”), an agent noun from Latin colligō (“to gather together”) (see collect).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A gatherer of money or taxes: about 1380 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

A parish officer collecting alms for the poor is from 1557,[4] and one who gathers things together in general from 1582.[4] An apparatus for collecting something is from 1777,[4] and a person who collects objects of interest as a pursuit by 1774.[2] In India the collector was the chief administrator of a district (1772).[4] The ticket collector at a railway station is from 1887,[4] and in electronics one of the three electrodes of a transistor from 1948.[4] The feminine collectress is from 1825.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – a tax collector.[4]
  • 1557 – a collector of alms.[4]
  • 1772 – a district collector (India).[4]
  • 1774 – a collector of curiosities.[2]
  • 1948 – a transistor's collector.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who collects things, such as stamps or works of art, as a hobby.
  2. A person employed to collect taxes, duties or other payments.
  3. Something that collects, as an electrode that gathers electrons.
  4. (India, historical) The chief administrative official of a district.

Word family

  • collectorship
  • subcollector
  • undercollector
  • collector's item
  • solar collector

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Collector.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/collector. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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