colector

Colector is a noun used in Spanish and Portuguese with several related senses. It generally denotes someone or something that gathers or collects. In everyday usage, it can refer to a person who collects objects or a professional engaged in collecting revenue or fees, such as a tax collector or toll collector (colector de impuestos, colector de peajes). For hobbyists, however, the word collector is less common in Spanish; coleccionista is more typical.

In electronics, colector names the collector terminal of a bipolar transistor or similar device; it is the point where carriers are gathered, and it appears in Spanish-language schematics alongside emitter (emisor) and base (base).

In civil and environmental engineering, a colector (often colector de aguas) is a conduit that collects sewage or stormwater from smaller lines and conveys it toward treatment facilities or networks.

Etymology: from Latin collectus, via Spanish and Portuguese, cognate with English collector. The term is used across several domains and may have slightly different technical meanings depending on the country and industry.