collector

/kəˈlɛktər/

/kəˈlɛktə/

Other forms: collectors

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!

Definitions of collector

1. noun

   a person who collects things
   synonyms: aggregator

   types:

   archivist

   a person in charge of a repository of documents and records

   conchologist

   a collector and student of mollusc shells

   coin collector, numismatist, numismatologist

   a collector and student of money (and coins in particular)

   packrat

   a collector of miscellaneous useless objects

   philatelist, stamp collector

   a collector and student of postage stamps

   type of:

   individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul

   a human being
2. noun

   a person who is employed to collect payments (as for rent or taxes)
   synonyms: accumulator, gatherer

   examples:

   Isabella Stewart Gardner

   United States collector and patron of art who built a museum in Boston to house her collection and opened it to the public in 1903 (1840-1924)

   types:

   conductor

   the person who collects fares on a public conveyance

   gleaner

   someone who gathers something in small pieces (e.g. information) slowly and carefully

   rent collector

   a person who goes from house to house collecting rents for the owner

   conductress

   a woman conductor

   type of:

   worker

   a person who works at a specific occupation
3. noun

   a crater that has collected cosmic material hitting the earth
   type of:

   crater

   a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb
4. noun

   the electrode in a transistor through which a primary flow of carriers leaves the region between the electrodes
   type of:

   electrode

   a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit