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col·lage

(kō-läzh, kə-)

a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.

b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material.

2. The art of creating such compositions.

3. An assemblage of diverse elements: a collage of conflicting memories.

v. col·laged, col·lag·ing, col·lag·es

v.tr.

To paste (diverse materials) over a surface, thereby creating an artistic product.

v.intr.

To create such an artistic product.

[French, from coller, to glue, from colle, glue, from Vulgar Latin *colla, from Greek kolla.]

col·lagist n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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