collector

American  

[kuh-lek-ter] / kəˈlɛk tər /

noun

• collectors
  plural

1. a person or thing that collects.

2. a person employed to collect debts, duties, taxes, etc.

3. a person who collects books, paintings, stamps, shells, etc., especially as a hobby.

4. Electricity. a device for accumulating current from contact conductors.

5. Electronics. an electrode in a transistor or vacuum tube for collecting electrons, ions, or holes.

6. Metallurgy. promoter.

7. Energy. solar collector.

---

collector British  

/ kəˈlɛktə /

noun

1. a person or thing that collects

2. a person employed to collect debts, rents, etc

3. the head of a district administration in India

4. a person who collects or amasses objects as a hobby

5. electronics the region in a transistor into which charge carriers flow from the base

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• collectorate
  noun
• collectorship
  noun
• precollector
  noun
• subcollector
  noun
• subcollectorship
  noun
• undercollector
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• collectors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of collector

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Medieval Latin, equivalent to Latin colleg- (variant stem of colligere; see collect ¹) + -tor -tor

Explanation

A collector is a person who accumulates special objects, like stamps or coins. If you're crazy about unicorns, you may also be a collector of unicorn figurines, stickers, and paintings. Collector is from a Latin word meaning "to gather." The 14th-century word was originally used for tax collectors, who gathered money from citizens. By the late 1700s, people who amassed collections of things were also called collectors. It's common for kids to be collectors of trading cards, stuffed animals, rocks, and shells. There are also plenty of adult collectors, who acquire antiques, art, books, and more. If you can think of an interesting object, it's probably got collectors!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

collector collectors

Bill Greening, based in Long Beach, is a Barbie collector and historian and was a designer at Mattel for 26 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Auto lovers have pushed for years to lessen emissions regulations for collector cars, arguing that these vintage vehicles are only driven short distances to parades and meet-ups where they deserve to be seen and cherished.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Catherine Zeta-Jones describes herself as "a bit of an eclectic collector"

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Carey dug deeper and saw that the hit to his score had happened after a debt collector, Tate and Kirlin, reported a supposed long-overdue payment.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

Not many against Capricorn’s Black Jackets, thought Elinor, but better than nothing, certainly better than a desperate father, an Arab boy, and an overweight book collector.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Card-game makers have also put more focus on releasing rare and limited-edition cards, helping retain the interest of collectors and driving card prices higher on the secondary market.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

And assuming collectors can get their car to an appropriate testing location, there’s no promise it will pass.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

But perhaps most synonymous with the Pokémon phenomenon is its trading card game, which has been played, bought and sold between collectors for the last three decades.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

James Brass, 47, of Victorville allegedly managed a team of signature collectors and also collected signatures himself for ballot petitions used to shape California law, according to a federal indictment returned Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

And, all the way down, the debt collectors at Deutsche Bank sensed the bond traders at Morgan Stanley misunderstood their own trade.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• connoisseur
• hobbyist