collate
col·late/ˈkoʊ.leɪt/verb
collate is spelled C-O-L-L-A-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (col·late). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, collate means “To examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in collate?
| Letters | 7: C-O-L-L-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: col·late |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is collate?
Collate appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce collate?
- UK /kəˈleɪt/
- US /ˈkoʊ.leɪt/
- US /kəˈleɪt/
Collate has 2 syllables, split col·late in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-collate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of collate
- collates present, singular, he/she/it
- collating participle, present
- collated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does collate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences.
The young attorneys were set the task of collating the contract submitted by the other side with the previous copy.
- 2
To assemble something in a logical sequence.
- 3
To sort multiple copies of printed documents into sequences of individual page order, one sequence for each copy, especially before binding.
Collating was still necessary because they had to insert foldout sheets and index tabs into the documents.
- 4
obsoleteTo bestow or confer.
- 5
To admit a cleric to a benefice; to present and institute in a benefice, when the person presenting is both the patron and the ordinary; followed by to.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Collate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | collationner |
| German | abgleichen, kollationieren, vergleichen, zuordnen , ordnen, anordnen |
| Portuguese | cotejar |
| Spanish | colacionar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does collate come from?
From Latin collātus, perfect passive participle of conferō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of confer. See also infer, delate and defer (Etymology 2), relate and refer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. Not related to collateral.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).