# collection

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəˈlɛkʃən/ · frequency rank #1,161

## Definitions
1. A set of items or amount of material procured, gathered or presented together.
2. A set of pitch classes used by a composer.
3. The activity of collecting.
4. A set of sets; used because such a thing is in general too large to comply with the formal definition of a set.
5. A gathering of money for charitable or other purposes, as by passing a contribution box for donations.
6. Debt collection.
7. The act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts; also, that which is inferred.
8. The jurisdiction of a collector of excise.
9. A set of college exams generally taken at the start of the term.
10. The quality of being collected; calm composure.

## Etymology
From Middle English colleccioun, collection, from Old French collection, from Latin collēctiō, collēctiōnem, from collēctus, from colligō (“collect together”), composed of con- + legō (“bring together, gather, collect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather, collect”). Equivalen to collect + -ion.

## Easily confused with
- **collector** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-collector)
- **connection** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-connection)
- **collective** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-collective)
- **correction** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-correction)
- **convection** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-convection)
- **collections** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collection-vs-collections)
- **collation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collation-vs-collection)
- **collecting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collecting-vs-collection)

## Common misspellings (14)
`ccollection`, `clolection`, `colection`, `colelction`, `collcetion`, `collecction`, `colleciton`, `collecsion`, `collectino`, `collectionn`, `collectoin`, `collecttion`, `colletcion`, `ocllection`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/collection