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colligo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word colligo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (legō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔl.lɪ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔl.li.ɡo][1]

Forms

colligō (present infinitive colligere, perfect active collēgī, supine collēctum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from con- (“together”) and legō “to gather, collect”, with assimilation of ⟨n⟩ to ⟨l⟩.[2][1][3] Legō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus, of gathering things together to take them away.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to gather together, collect, pick up, as Plautus' parings, and in military language vāsa colligere “to pack one's kit, strike camp”.[2][3] It also meant to harvest fruit, as in Terence, to collect liquid, of clouds and winds to gather, and of emotions to build up, as Lucretius' anger.[2] With people it meant to assemble or rally forces, and over time to amass or acquire, as reputation.[2]

It meant to collect writings, then to bring facts together in the mind, sum up, and to deduce or infer, as Cicero and Ovid use it.[2] In numbers it meant to add up or amount to, as in Pliny the Elder.[2] Of the body it meant to draw oneself together, of clothes to gird up, and reflexively to pull oneself together, recover, as in Afranius and Livy.[2]

It survives in French cueillir, Italian cogliere, Spanish coger and Romanian culege.[1] English collect comes from its participle collēctus in the early 15th century, English cull through Old French cuiler in the mid-14th, and English coil through French coillir in the 1610s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of gathering things up.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of harvesting.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of assembling forces and of inference.[2][5]
  • mid-14th century – English cull is recorded.[4]
  • early 15th century – English collect is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To gather together, collect, pick up.[2]
  2. To harvest (fruit, crops).[2]
  3. To accumulate (liquid), (of clouds, winds) to gather.[2]
  4. To assemble (forces); to rally.[2]
  5. To amass, acquire (a reputation, goodwill).[2]
  6. To bring together in a book; to collect (facts) mentally.[2]
  7. To sum up.[2]
  8. To infer, deduce.[2]
  9. To add up, amount to.[2]
  10. To draw (the body) together; to gird up (clothing).[2]
  11. (reflexive) To recover oneself, come to one's senses.[2]

Word family

  • collēgium
  • colligātiō
  • recolligō
  • collectaculum
  • collectāneus
  • collectarius
  • collectīcius
  • collectim
  • collēctiō
  • collēctīvus
  • collēctor
  • collectum

Usage notes

A different verb colligō, colligāre, from con- and ligō “to bind”, meant to tie together, bind, unite.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Colligo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/colligo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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