collector

noun

col·​lec·​tor kə-ˈlek-tər 

: one that collects: such as

a

: an official who collects funds or moneys

b

: a person who makes a collection

stamp collector

c

: an object or device that collects

the statuette was a dust collector

d

: solar collector

collectorship

kə-ˈlek-tər-ˌship 

noun

Examples of collector in a Sentence

He is an avid stamp collector.

The painting was purchased by a private collector.

The trash collectors came early today.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Moores haunt Books & Books, flip through bins at the city’s half-dozen eclectic and well-stocked record shops -- Moore is a zealous collector of vinyl, poetry books, fanzines and ephemera, and Prinz is an art-book editor. —Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 9 June 2024

According to estimates by Barbie Wiki, a fandom website, there are over 100,000 Barbie collectors over the world. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 8 June 2024

Thailand’s National Museum hosted a welcome-home ceremony Tuesday for two ancient statues that were illegally trafficked from Thailand by a British collector of antiquities and were returned from the collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. —Jerry Harmer, Fortune Asia, 22 May 2024

The ultra-wealthy Getty Trust, founded by a billionaire aficionado of ancient Greek and Roman art and a collector purported to be the richest man in the world at his 1976 death, would surely understand. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English collectour, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin collēctōr-, collēctor, from colleg-, variant stem of colligere "to gather together, assemble, accumulate" + -tōr-, -tor, agent suffix — more at collect entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing collector

• collector's item
• solar collector

Kids Definition

collector

noun

col·​lec·​tor kə-ˈlek-tər 

1

: a person whose job is to collect money due

tax collector

bill collector

2

: one that makes a collection

stamp collector

3

: an object or device that collects

the ornament was just a dust collector