collate means to examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.
collate is pronounced /kəˈleɪt/.
Why “collate” is a great word
COLLATE — [Verb] To collect, compare, and arrange (information or sheets of a document) in a proper order or sequence. From Latin collātus, perfect passive participle of conferō ("to bring together, compare"), from com- ("together") + ferō ("to bear, carry"). First recorded in English use 1550–60. Unlike "compare," which examines for likeness, or "assemble," which gathers parts, to collate is to perform the dual act of judgment and placement. It is the scholar's sifting of manuscripts to establish a true text, the archivist merging ledgers into one coherent chronology, or the printer gathering each signature of a book in perfect succession—a quiet faith that from disparate fragments, a narrative can be made to hold.
Etymology
From Latin collātus, perfect passive participle of conferō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of confer. See also infer, delate and defer (Etymology 2), relate and refer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. Not related to collateral.
verb
- To examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences.“The young attorneys were set the task of collating the contract submitted by the other side with the previous copy.”
- To assemble something in a logical sequence.“Detest your own age. Build a better one. And to set that on foot read incredibly dull essays upon Marlowe to your friends. For which purpose one must collate editions in the British Museum.”
- To sort multiple copies of printed documents into sequences of individual page order, one sequence for each copy, especially before binding.“Collating was still necessary because they had to insert foldout sheets and index tabs into the documents.”
- To bestow or confer.“Becauſe thoſe hereticall Biſhops being depoſed and reduced into Lay-communion, could not therefore collate baptiſme for their want of holy Orders: […]”
- To admit a cleric to a benefice; to present and institute in a benefice, when the person presenting is both the patron and the ordinary; followed by to.