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What does it mean to collate in a printing or copying context?
In terms of printing or copying, collating refers to putting printed sheets or photocopies in proper order, especially for binding. When you're printing or photocopying something and you're only printing or making one copy, you don't need to address the idea of collation at all. But if you're printing or making multiple copies of multi-page documents, you might want the printer or photocopier to collate the pages.
If you select the "collate" option, the documents that emerge all nicely printed or copied will have their pages in order already; you'll have a stack of documents all ready to go. If you choose not to collate the documents, you'll have a stack with all the first pages together, all the second pages together, all the third pages together, etc., and you'll have to assemble each document by hand. Collating, then, can save a lot of time.
Examples of collate in a Sentence
Nicholas LeMann, New Republic, 2 Sept. 2002
Rare-book dealers use the word "collating" to mean going through a book page by page when it arrives to make certain that it is complete …
—Calvin Trillin, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 1989
"Certainly," Kidson said. " … we need to have him on our side and cooperating every step of the road after we've collated all the information."
—Evelyn Anthony, The Defector, (1981) 1982
And here have I, as before observed, carefully collected, collated and arranged them …
—Washington Irving, A History of New York, 1809
They are still collating the data.
The photocopier will collate the pages of the report.
Megan Feringa, New York Times, 3 June 2026
And the new Personalized Intelligence update collates data across the lot.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Kanal was instrumental in collating over 500 artifacts.
—Leena Tailor, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
The new project, which coincided with the brand’s 50th anniversary, offered casual fans and true aficionados the opportunity to discover the Armani archives with an interactive online platform that collated and organized its collections.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for collate
Cite this Entry
“Collate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collate. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
collate
verb
Louisiana Civil CodeLouisiana Civil CodeVerb
back-formation from collation, from Latin collatio (bonorum) bringing together (of property) for distribution to heirs
