Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Collection \Col*lec"tion\, n. [L. collectio: cf. F. collection.]
   1. The act or process of collecting or of gathering; as, the
      collection of specimens.

   2. That which is collected; as:
      (a) A gathering or assemblage of objects or of persons.
          ``A collection of letters.'' --Macaulay.
      (b) A gathering of money for charitable or other purposes,
          as by passing a contribution box for freewill
          offerings. ``The collection for the saints.'' --1 Cor.
          xvi. 1
      (c) (Usually in pl.) That which is obtained in payment of
          demands.
      (d) An accumulation of any substance. ``Collections of
          moisture.'' --Whewell. ``A purulent collection.''
          --Dunglison.

   3. The act of inferring or concluding from premises or
      observed facts; also, that which is inferred. [Obs.]

            We may safely say thus, that wrong collections have
            been hitherto made out of those words by modern
            divines.                              --Milton.

   4. The jurisdiction of a collector of excise. [Eng.]

   Syn: Gathering; assembly; assemblage; group; crowd;
        congregation; mass; heap; compilation.

Source : WordNet®

collection
     n 1: several things grouped together or considered as a whole
          [syn: {aggregation}, {accumulation}, {assemblage}]
     2: a publication containing a variety of works [syn: {compendium}]
     3: request for a sum of money; "an appeal to raise money for
        starving children" [syn: {solicitation}, {appeal}, {ingathering}]
     4: the act of gathering something together [syn: {collecting},
        {assembling}, {aggregation}]