WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Col*lect"or
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [LL. collector one who collects: cf. F. collecteur.]
Definition : 1. One who collects things which are separate; esp., one who makes a business or practice of collecting works of art, objects in natural history, etc.; as, a collector of coins. I digress into Soho to explore a bookstall. Methinks I have been thirty years a collector. Lamb.

2. A compiler of books; one who collects scattered passages and puts them together in one book. Volumes without the collector's own reflections. Addison.

3. (Com.)

Defn: An officer appointed and commissioned to collect and receive customs, duties, taxes, or toll. A great part of this is now embezzled . . . by collectors, and other officers. Sir W. Temple.

4. One authorized to collect debts.

5. A bachelor of arts in Oxford, formerly appointed to superintend some scholastic proceedings in Lent. Todd.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913