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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• collectors
  plural

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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

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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

The tax collector also released its numbers for income-tax brackets and the standard deduction.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

Ross Kelbaugh, a researcher and collector of most of the photos in the exhibition, said perhaps it was circulated at abolitionist meetings to ask: "How could this 'institution' keep these little girls enslaved?"

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

A breakthrough came when fossil collector Cliff Linster discovered a second specimen near Ten Sleep, Wyoming.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

There was a real fear, James says, that the merry-go-round would fall into the hands of a private collector, as the carousel, if not officially, has long symbolically belonged to L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Charles Willson Peale, noted painter, inventor, and collector of natural history objects, shut himself, his wife Betsy, and six of his children inside his large museum-residence.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

One of the best places to witness the region’s transformation into a destination for artists and collectors is Arthouse, a gallery in Marble Falls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

"I had letters coming through - I had debt collectors after me."

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

Police have made no arrests or recovered any cards, which had been graded by Professional Sports Authenticator and were being shipped back to collectors nationwide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

But many collectors say buying online is tantamount to cheating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Circling the room were locked glass cases displaying unusual and historic chess sets, loaned to the library from private collectors for the occasion.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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Related Words

• connoisseur
• hobbyist

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