collect

/kəˈlekt/kuh-LEKT

/kəˈlɛkt/kuh-LEKT

Meaninga gathering

Common meaning: to gather

colwith, together; thoroughlySkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 99 · scan
lectto gather, pick out; to readLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1048 · scan

‘with, together’ + ‘to gather, pick out’ → collect

Journey through time

col — Latin com- “with, together; thoroughly” (path traced)
lect — Latin legō, lēgī, lēctum “to gather, pick out; to read” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as collecta.

Latincom- + legere‘with, together; thoroughly + to gather, pick out; to read’source
Latincollectasource
Late Latincollectare‘to collect money’source
Old Frenchcollecter‘to collect money’source
Englishcollect‘to gather’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin collecta, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as com- ‘with, together; thoroughly’ + legere ‘to gather, pick out; to read’.

Roots

collecta Latin “a gathering”
legō, lēgī, lēctum Latin “to gather, pick out; to read”

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