noun

1. the act, process, or result of collating
2. a conference or gathering, as of monks at the close of the day to listen to a reading from a religious book and to discuss it
3. a light meal: originally such a meal was served in a monastery during the collation (sense )
4. Library Science the physical description of a book, including the trim size, number of pages and illustrations, etc.

Etymology: ME collacioun < OFr collacion, discourse < L collatio: see collate