COLLECT - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

COLLECTAuthored

The Law Mind • 983 words

Definition

To gather, assemble, or consolidate scattered items — assets, accounts, funds, or obligations — into a single mass or recoverable whole. In legal contexts, the term carries two primary meanings:

1. To collect a debt, judgment, or obligation: To obtain actual payment or satisfaction of an amount owed, whether through voluntary remittance, personal demand, or formal legal process. Collection in this sense refers not merely to the existence of a right to payment but to the act of reducing that right to money in hand.

2. To collect property or assets: To gather and consolidate dispersed property — most commonly in the administration of estates, trusts, or receiverships — bringing individual items under a single administrative authority so they may be managed, accounted for, or distributed.

In tax law, "collection" is a term of art referring to the IRS's enforcement authority to compel payment of assessed tax liabilities, distinct from the assessment process itself.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To be paid for by the recipient, as in a telephone call or shipment; also, generally, to gather or accumulate things.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To gather into one body or place; to assemble or bring together; to demand and obtain payment of an account or indebtedness; to infer from observed facts.

The common and legal meanings largely overlap, but a researcher should note the gap: in ordinary speech, "collect" often implies a passive accumulation or a simple act of retrieval. In law, collection carries procedural weight — particularly in debt and tax contexts — where it signals an active enforcement process with specific legal prerequisites, deadlines, and remedies attached. The phrase "to collect a debt" in a legal instrument means more than receiving payment; it invokes an entire framework of rights and limitations.

Common Confusion

COLLECT vs. ASSESS (tax law): In federal tax practice, assessment and collection are distinct legal events separated by statute. Assessment is the formal recording of a tax liability; collection is the subsequent act of compelling or receiving payment. The IRS may be time-barred from collection even where assessment was timely. Conflating the two causes critical errors when analyzing limitations periods.

COLLECT vs. RECOVER: "Recovery" implies judicial vindication of a right, often through litigation. "Collection" may occur without litigation — through demand letters, levies, garnishments, or voluntary payment. A creditor may recover a judgment yet never collect it.

Why It Matters in Research

The core research challenge with "collect" is that the word operates across multiple legal domains — debt collection, estate administration, tax enforcement, and secured transactions — each with its own procedural framework, limitations periods, and vocabulary.

In tax research, the distinction between assessment and collection is fundamental. The federal statute of limitations on collection (generally ten years from assessment under I.R.C. § 6502) runs independently from the limitations on assessment. The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia entries on Statute of Limitations Collection and Currently Not Collectible Status address this directly. Researchers working with historical tax materials should be alert to the fact that earlier limitations periods and suspension rules differed significantly from current law.

In debt collection research, the term intersects with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act framework, where "collection" is defined with specificity to determine who qualifies as a "debt collector" and what conduct is regulated. Historical sources will not reflect this statutory overlay.

In estate and probate materials, "collecting" assets is a fiduciary duty of the personal representative or trustee, and older authorities use the term to describe the marshaling function. Researchers should distinguish between the duty to collect and the power to compromise or abandon uncollectible claims — a distinction older dictionaries treat inconsistently.

Jurisdictional variation in state debt collection statutes is substantial. When reading historical case law on "collection," verify whether the court is applying common law debt collection principles, a state-specific limitations period, or a remedial statute that may have since been amended or superseded.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) offer consistent and useful definitions: to gather scattered things into one mass or fund, and to obtain payment through personal solicitation or legal proceedings. The second edition adds case citations that illustrate the practical scope — including contexts involving municipal tax collection and general debt recovery — confirming that the term carried its modern operational meaning in early twentieth-century courts.

Anderson's Dictionary of Law does not supply a usable entry for "collect" as a standalone term; the source material provided under that entry concerns coinage and legal tender, which appears to be a cataloging artifact rather than a definition of the term. Researchers should not rely on Anderson's for this entry.

Neither Black's edition addresses the tax-law term-of-art dimension that "collection" has acquired under the modern Internal Revenue Code framework, nor do they reflect the consumer protection overlay introduced by federal statute in the latter twentieth century. Historical dictionary support is adequate for common law debt and estate contexts but insufficient for regulatory research.

Jurisdictional Note

State statutes of limitations on debt collection vary widely, typically ranging from three to ten years, and some states have enacted their own debt collection practice acts that expand on federal FDCPA protections. In estate and trust administration, the duty and power to collect assets is governed by state probate and trust codes, which differ in how they treat uncollectible claims and the standard of care applicable to collection efforts.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Statute of Limitations Collection (The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia)
Currently Not Collectible Status (The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia)
IRS Collection Notice Requirements (The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia)

COLLECTmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

To gather together; to bring scattered things (assets, accounts, articles of property) into one mass or fund. To collect a debt or claim is to obtain pay- ment or liquidation of it, either by personal solicitation or legal proceedings.

COLLECTmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

Coin." 1 "No State shall coin Money" or "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts."? See TENDER, 2 (2), Legal Tender Acts. The gold coins of the United States shall be a one-dollar piece, which, at the standard weight of twenty-five and eight-tenth grains, shall be the unit of value; a quarter-eagle, or two and a half dollar piece; a three-dollar piece; a half-eagle, or five-dollar piece; an eagle, or ten-dollar piece; and a double eagle, or twenty-dollar piece. The silver coins shall be [a trade-dollar,] 3 a halfdollar or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar or twentyfive-cent piece, a dime or ten-cent piece. The weight of [the trade-dollar shall be four hundred and twenty grains troy; the weight of the half-dollar, twelve grams and one-half of a gram; the quarter-dollar and the dime, respectively, one-half and one-fifth of the weight of said half-dollar. The standard of both gold and silver coins shall be such that of one thousand parts by weight nine hundred shall be pure metal and one hundred of alloy. The alloy of the silver coins shall be of copper. The alloy of the gold coins shall be of copper, or of copper and silver; but the silver shall in no case exceed one-tenth of the whole alloy. The minor coins shall be a five-cent piece, a threecent piece, and a one-cent piece; and their weight, respectively, seventy-seven and sixteen-hundredths grains troy, thirty grains, and forty-eight grains. The alloy of the five and three cent pieces shall be of copper and nickel, three-fourths to one-fourth; the alloy of the one-cent piece, ninety-five per centum of copper and five per centum of tin and zinc. Any gold coins in the treasury, when reduced in weight by natural abrasion more than one-half of one per centum below the standard weight, shall be recoined. There shall be coined silver dollars of the weight of four hundred and twelve and a half grains troy of standard silver, as provided in the act of January 18, 1837 (5 St. L. 137).5 Foreign coins. The value of foreign coins as expressed in the money of account of the United States shall be that of the pure metal of such coin of standard value; and the values of the standard coins in circulation of the various nations of the world shall be estimated annually by the director of the mint, and be proclaimed on the first day of January by the secretary of the treasury. The valuation thus made is conclusive upon customhouse officers and importers.7 All foreign gold and silver coins received in pay1 Constitution, Art. I, § 8, cl. 5. 2 Ibid. § 10, cl. 1. See generally Bronson v. Rods, 7 Wall. 247-54 (1868), Chase, C. J. 3 Act 3 March, 1887 (24 St. L. 634), provides for the exchange and retirement of the trade-dollar. R. S. §§ 3511-15. 1 Sup. R. S. p. 306: Act 28 Feb., 1878. Act 3 March, 1873: R. S. § 3564. Arthur, Collector v. Richards, 23 Wall. 246 (1874); Cramer v. Arthur, 102 U. S. 612 (1880); Hadden v. Merritt, 115 id. 25 (1885). ment for moneys due to the United States shall, before being issued in circulation, be coined anew.1 See ATTACHMENT, Execution; CURRENT, 2; MONEY. To gather together: to bring into the custody of one person. 1. To gather the assets of a decedent's estate: as for one to collect the goods of the estate for safe-keeping, until a will is proven and an executor qualified, or an administrator appointed.4 2. To receive or obtain money. Collector. (1) A public officer charged with the duty of exacting and receiving payment of moneys due the government, as of taxes, or of customs or revenue duties. See DUTY, 2. (2) A private person employed to demand and receive payment of money; a collecting agent, q. v. Collection. The act or fact of claiming and receiving payment of money. In New York, a guaranty of the collection of a demand, or that it may be collected, or is collectible, 1 Act 9 Feb., 1793: R. S. § 3566. 2 L. collateralis, side by side: con, by; latus, side. See generally 25 Cent. Law J. 387 (1887), cases. 2 Bl. Com. 510.

COLLECTmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

To gather together; to bring scattered things (assets, accounts, articles of property) into one mass or fund. To collect a debt or claim is to obtain payment or liquidation of it, either by personal solicitation or legal proceedings. White v. Case, 18 Wend. (N. Y.) 544; Ryan v. Tudor, 81 Kan. 366, 2 Pac. 797; Purdy v. Independence, 75 Iowa, 356, 39 N. W. 641; McInerny v. Reed, 23 Iowa, 414; Taylor v. Kearney County, 35 Neb. 381, 53 N. W. 211. -—Collect on delivery. See C. O. D.—Collector. One authorized to receive taxes or other impositions; as “collector of taxes.’ <A person appointed by a private person to collect the credits due him.—Colleotor of decedent's estate. A person temporarily appointed by the Pee court to collect rents, assets, interest, ills receivable, etc., of a decedent's estate, and act for the estate in all financial matters requiring immediate settlement. Such collector is usually appointed when there is protracted litigation as to the probate of the will, or as to the person to take out administration, and his duties cease as soon as an executor or administrator is qualified —Collector of the customs. An officer of the United States, appees for the term of four years. Act May 15, 820, § 1; 3 Story, U. S. Laws, 1790.—Cole lection. Indorsement “for collection.” See For CoLLecrion.

COLLECTv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To gather into one body or place; to assemble or bring together; to obtain by gathering. A band of men Collected choicely from each country. Shak. 'Tis memory alone that enriches the mind, by preserving what our labor and industry daily collect. Watts. To demand and obtain payment of, as an account, or other indebtedness; as, to collect taxes. To infer from observed facts; to conclude from premises. [Archaic.] Shak. Which sequence, I conceive, is very ill collected. Locke. To collect one's self, to recover from surprise, embarrassment, or fear; to regain self-control.

COLLECTv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To assemble together; as, the people collected in a crowd; to accumulate; as, snow collects in banks. To infer; to conclude. [Archaic] Whence some collect that the former word imports a plurality of persons. South.

COLLECTn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A short, comprehensive prayer, adapted to a particular day, occasion, or condition, and forming part of a liturgy. The noble poem on the massacres of Piedmont is strictly a collect in verse. Macaulay.

collectadj

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment.

collectadv

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

With payment due from the recipient.

collectnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson, especially one found in a prayerbook, as with the Book of Common Prayer.

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