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collation

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May 18, 2004, 21:53
Kalleh
collation
My logophile friend sent me a copy of an annoucement that was in his college dorm many years ago:

"The hospitality of the city was widely
renowned, and especially the collations with which the sugar refiners regaled their visitors."

While "collation" can mean a light meal, I found no such meaning for the verb form, "collate." Is that common that the noun verb has a meaning that the verb form doesn't have? Or, did I miss a meaning of "collate" that means to partake in a light meal?
May 19, 2004, 01:32
arnie
A collation in the sense of a meal is a collection or assembly of various types of food, usually displayed so that the diner can choose between the different foods on offer. It is an older word for what would nowadays usually be called a buffet meal.

The verb collate means "to collect or assemble".


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 19, 2004, 10:48
Kalleh
arnie, I understand what the words mean. However, with the other meanings of collation, such as the gathering of materials in a systematic way or even the act of conferring, collate and collation have concomitant meanings. However, that is not the case for the meaning of a "light meal." My question was whether there other words where a verb or a noun has a meaning that its counterpart doesn't have? Probably. I just couldn't come up with one on the spot.

BTW, the dictionary.com definition of collation with regard to meals is either a "light meal" or a "light meal permitted on fast days." [The latter sounds like an oxymoron.]
May 20, 2004, 01:54
arnie
I'd guess that there are lots of words like this. One that comes to mind is "revolver". In modern use it means almost exclusively a type of handgun with a revolving chamber.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.