collector

noun

col·​lec·​tor kə-ˈlek-tər 

: one that collects: such as

a

: an official who collects funds or monies

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

That’s not a typo—$3 billion is indeed the sum that billionaire collector Ken Griffin donated to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Shift occupies property originally owned by Roger Davidson, who was an early collector of Serra’s work. — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Instead of combing through aging reports, collectors can focus their time on high-risk accounts and customers where escalation or direct engagement is required. — Ari Widlansky, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

According to Ateios, this improves cohesion between electrode particles and adhesion to the current collector while requiring less than 1% binder. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2026

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

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing collector

• collector's item
• solar collector

Rhymes for collector

• bisector
• connector
• corrector
• defector
• deflector
• detector
• director
• dissector
• effector
• ejector
• elector
• erector

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