collect
/kəˈlɛkt/verb, adjective, adverb, noun
collect is spelled C-O-L-L-E-C-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, collect means “To gather together; amass” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in collect?
| Letters | 7: C-O-L-L-E-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 23 times per million words; the 3,814th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is collect?
Collect appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th 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 collect?
- /kəˈlɛkt/
As a noun (“The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson…”): /ˈkɑlɪkt/, /ˈkɑlɛkt/, /ˈkɒlɪkt/.
Collect has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-collect.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-collect2.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-collect.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of collect
- collects present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- collecting participle, present
- collected participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does collect mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To gather together; amass.
Suzanne collected all the papers she had laid out.
- 2
To get; particularly, get from someone.
A bank collects a monthly payment on a client's new car loan. A mortgage company collects a monthly payment on a house.
- 3
To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation.
John Henry collects stamps.
- 4
To pick up or fetch
Can you collect me from the airport?
- 5
archaicTo form a conclusion; to deduce, infer. (Compare gather, get.)
- 6
To collect payments.
He had a lot of trouble collecting on that bet he made.
- 7
To come together in a group or mass.
The rain collected in puddles.
- 8
To infer; to conclude.
adjective
- 1
To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment.
It was to be a collect delivery, but no-one was available to pay.
adverb
- 1
With payment due from the recipient.
I had to call collect.
noun
- 1
The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson, especially one found in a prayerbook, as with the Book of Common Prayer.
He used the day's collect as the basis of his sermon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Collect in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rassembler, recueillir , percevoir, récupérer , collectionner , collecte |
| German | sammeln, aufsammeln, einsammeln , einziehen , Oration |
| Portuguese | juntar, reunir, recolher , levantar, coletar , a cobrar |
| Spanish | juntar, recoger, recabar, recolectar , recaudar , colecta |
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 collect come from?
From Middle English collecten, a borrowing from Old French collecter, from Medieval Latin collectare (“to collect money”), from Latin collecta (“a collection of money, in Late Latin a meeting, assemblage, in Medieval Latin a tax, also an assembly for prayer, a prayer”), feminine of collectus, past participle of colligere, conligere (“to gather together, collect, consider, conclude, infer”), from com- (“together”) + legere (“to gather”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather, collect”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).