Definition of "collection"

Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page vii

collections of moisture

1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences

a purulent collection

1887, Robert Bartholow, A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

The "collectional information" one receives is ambiguous since the collection { C, E, F, G, A } occurs in the key of C and in the key of F.

2005, Neil Minturn, The Last Waltz of The Band, page 112

In fact, students are often taught that specific collections—diatonic, octatonic, and whole-tone, etc.—typify these composers' compositional language.

2009, Brian Moseley, “Form and Transpositional Combination in George Crumb's Lux Aeterna”, in Bruce Quaglia, Jack Boss, editors, Musical Currents from the Left Coast, page 174

Simply put, the realm of available collections in a largely diatonic environment is much smaller than it is in truly atonal one.

2012, Marguerite Boland, John Link, Elliott Carter Studies, page 22

We may safely say thus, that wrong collections have been hitherto made out of those words by modern divines.

1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], book