1.  collection(n = noun.group) accumulation, aggregation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole; Array
is a kind of group, grouping
has particulars: procession, pharmacopoeia, string, wardrobe, wardrobe, population, universe, armamentarium, art collection, backlog, battery, block, book, rule book, book, bottle collection, bunch, caboodle, lot, coin collection, collage, content, ensemble, tout ensemble, corpus, crop, tenantry, findings, flagging, flinders, pack, deal, hand, long suit, herbarium, stamp collection, statuary, sum, sum total, summation, agglomeration, gimmickry, nuclear club, agglomerate, cumulation, cumulus, heap, mound, pile, mass, combination, congregation, hit parade, judaica, kludge, library, program library, subroutine library, library, mythology, biology, biota, fauna, zoology, petting zoo, set, victoriana, category, class, family, job lot, bundle, package, packet, parcel, defence, defense, defense lawyers, defense team, prosecution, planting, signage, gaap, generally accepted accounting principles, pantheon, free world, third world, europe, asia, north america, central america, south america, oort cloud, galaxy, extragalactic nebula, galaxy, fleet, fleet, fleet, repertoire, repertory, repertoire, repertory, assortment, miscellanea, miscellany, mixed bag, mixture, motley, potpourri, salmagundi, smorgasbord, variety, batch, clutch, batch, rogue's gallery, exhibition, expo, exposition, convoy, traffic, air power, aviation, botany, flora, vegetation, jurisprudence, law, menagerie, data, information, ana, mail, post, treasure, treasure trove, trinketry, troponomy, troponymy, smithereens, nag hammadi, nag hammadi library, magi, wise men

2.  collection(n = noun.communication) compendium - a publication containing a variety of works; Array
is a kind of publication
has particulars: anthology, archives, compilation, digest

3.  collection(n = noun.communication) appeal, ingathering, solicitation - request for a sum of money; "an appeal to raise money for starving children"
is a kind of petition, postulation, request
has particulars: whip-round

4.  collection(n = noun.act) aggregation, assembling, collecting - the act of gathering something together; Array
is a kind of grouping
has particulars: agglomeration, collation, compilation, compiling, gather, gathering, bottle collection, conchology, shell collecting, coin collecting, coin collection, numismatics, numismatology, pickup, philately, stamp collecting, stamp collection, tax collection
Derived forms verb collect₃, verb collect₄, verb collect₁

1.  The act or process of collecting or of gathering; as, the collection of specimens. [1913 Webster]

2.  That which is collected [1913 Webster]

3.  The act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts; also, that which is inferred. [1913 Webster]
"We may safely say thus, that wrong collections have been hitherto made out of those words by modern divines." [1913 Webster]

4.  The jurisdiction of a collector of excise.

collection, n.
1 the act or process of collecting or being collected.
2 a group of things collected together, esp. systematically.
3 (foll. by of) an accumulation; a mass or pile (a collection of dust).
4 a the collecting of money, esp. in church or for a charitable cause. b the amount collected.
5 the regular removal of mail, esp. from a postbox, for dispatch.
6 (in pl.) Brit. college examinations held at the end of a term, esp. at Oxford University.

Etymology:
ME f. OF f. L collectio -onis (as COLLECT(1))

N  assemblage, collection, collocation, colligation, compilation, levy, gathering, ingathering, muster, attroupement, team, concourse, conflux, congregation, contesseration, convergence, meeting, levee, reunion, drawing room, at home, conversazione, assembly, congress, convention, conventicle, gemote, conclave, posse, posse comitatus, Noah's ark, miscellany, collectanea, museum, menagerie, museology, crowd, throng, group, flood, rush, deluge, rabble, mob, press, crush, cohue, horde, body, tribe, crew, gang, knot, squad, band, party, swarm, shoal, school, covey, flock, herd, drove, atajo, bunch, drive, force, mulada, remuda, roundup, array, bevy, galaxy, corps, company, troop, troupe, task force, army, regiment, host, populousness, clan, brotherhood, fraternity, sorority, association, volley, shower, storm, cloud, group, cluster, Pleiades, clump, pencil, set, batch, lot, pack, budget, assortment, bunch, parcel, packet, package, bundle, fascine, fasces, bale, seron, seroon, fagot, wisp, truss, tuft, shock, rick, fardel, stack, sheaf, haycock, fascicle, fascicule, fasciculus, gavel, hattock, stook, accumulation, congeries, heap, lump, pile, rouleau, tissue, mass, pyramid, bing, drift, snowball, snowdrift, acervation, cumulation, glomeration, agglomeration, conglobation, conglomeration, conglomerate, coacervate, coacervation, coagmentation, aggregation, concentration, congestion, omnium gaterum, spicilegium, black hole of Calcutta, quantity, collector, gatherer, whip, whipper in, assembled, closely packed, dense, serried, crowded to suffocation, teeming, swarming, populous, as thick as hops, all of a heap, fasciculated cumulative, the plot thickens, acervatim, tibi seris tibi metis.

art collection, bottle collection, coin collection, collection agent, collection plate, garbage collection, loan collection, map collection, motley collection, rental collection, stamp collection, tax collection, trash collection