COLLECTIVE, adjective 1. Formed by gathering; gathered into a mass, sum, or body; congregated, or aggregated. 2. Deducing consequences; reasoning; inferring. 3. In grammar, expressing an number or multitude united; as a collective noun or name, which, though in the singular number itself, denotes more than one; as, company, army, troop, assembly.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI