[ kə'leɪʃ(ə)n ]
■ noun
1》 the action of collating.
2》 formal a light informal meal.
↘(in the Roman Catholic Church) a light meal allowed during a fast.
Origin
ME: via OFr. from L. collatio(n-) , from conferre (see confer ); sense 2 from a text entitled Collationes Patrum in Scetica Eremo Commorantium , from which a reading would be given in Benedictine communities prior to a light meal.