collage

American  

[kuh-lahzh, koh-] / kəˈlɑʒ, koʊ- /

noun

1. a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a single surface various materials not normally associated with one another, as newspaper clippings, parts of photographs, theater tickets, and fragments of an envelope.

2. a work of art produced by this technique.

3. an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.

   The experimental play is a collage of sudden scene shifts, long monologues, musical interludes, and slapstick.

4. a film that presents a series of seemingly unrelated scenes or images or shifts from one scene or image to another suddenly and without transition.

---

verb (used with object)

collaged, collaging

1. to make a collage of.

   The artist has collaged old photos, cartoon figures, and telephone numbers into a unique work of art.

collage British  

/ kɒ-, kɔlaʒ, kəˈlɑːʒ /

noun

1. an art form in which compositions are made out of pieces of paper, cloth, photographs, and other miscellaneous objects, juxtaposed and pasted on a dry ground

2. a composition made in this way

3. any work, such as a piece of music, created by combining unrelated styles

---

Other Word Forms

• collagist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of collage

1915–20; < French, equivalent to colle paste, glue (< Greek kólla ) + -age -age

Explanation

Have you ever cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines and pasted them together to make a big picture? If you have, you have made a collage. Collage came to English through French from the Greek word for glue, kolla, about 100 years ago. A collage is not only made from magazine pictures. In the world of fine art, it refers to a work made with various small objects sometimes with paint sometimes without. The word can also be used to mean a collection of different things. If it's very loud in your house, you might come home to a collage of sounds from the dog, the TV, your mom on the phone and your brother on the guitar. Years after you graduate, high school might just seem like a collage of memories.

Example Sentences

Collage and collision are their preferred multimedia modes.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2024

According to Collage, this year’s figures were consistent with the company’s past biennial surveys.

From Washington Times • Oct. 26, 2023

Mohammed Niatuzzaman, Director of Mugdha Medical Collage Hospital, said on Thursday that they were struggling to provide critical support to serious patients who have other ailments.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2023

Collage may indicate motion in Furey’s work, as in two pictures of dancers whose bodies are covered in patterns, whether more flower photos or rendered with line and daub.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2023

Many others are only in an incipient state at present, but Mr. Punch hopes to be able before long to announce that he has brought several to maturity, including the Collage and the Cabbyflower.

From Mr. Punch's Country Life by Hammerton, J. A. (John Alexander)