collation
    n 1: a light informal meal [syn: bite, collation, snack]
    2: assembling in proper numerical or logical sequence
    3: careful examination and comparison to note points of
       disagreement

Collation \Col*la"tion\, n. [OE. collacioun speech, conference,
   reflection, OF. collacion, F. collation, fr. L. collatio a
   bringing together, comparing, fr. collatum (used as the
   supine of conferre); col- + latium (used as the supine of
   ferre to bear), for tlatum. See Tolerate, v. t.]
   1. The act of collating or comparing; a comparison of one
      copy er thing (as of a book, or manuscript) with another
      of a like kind; comparison, in general. --Pope.
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   2. (Print.) The gathering and examination of sheets
      preparatory to binding.
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   3. The act of conferring or bestowing. [Obs.]
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            Not by the collation of the king . . . but by the
            people.                               --Bacon.
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   4. A conference. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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   5. (Eccl. Law) The presentation of a clergyman to a benefice
      by a bishop, who has it in his own gift.
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   6. (Law)
      (a) The act of comparing the copy of any paper with its
          original to ascertain its conformity.
      (b) The report of the act made by the proper officers.
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   7. (Scots Law) The right which an heir has of throwing the
      whole heritable and movable estates of the deceased into
      one mass, and sharing it equally with others who are of
      the same degree of kindred.
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   Note: This also obtains in the civil law, and is found in the
         code of Louisiana. --Bouvier.
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   8. (Eccles.) A collection of the Lives of the Fathers or
      other devout work read daily in monasteries.
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   9. A light repast or luncheon; as, a cold collation; -- first
      applied to the refreshment on fast days that accompanied
      the reading of the collation in monasteries.
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            A collation of wine and sweetmeats.   --Whiston.
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   Collation of seals (Old Law), a method of ascertaining the
      genuineness of a seal by comparing it with another known
      to be genuine. --Bouvier.
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Collation \Col*la"tion\, v. i.
   To partake of a collation. [Obs.]
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         May 20, 1658, I . . . collationed in Spring Garden.
                                                  --Evelyn.
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COLLATION, descents. A term used in the laws of Louisiana. Collation -of 
goods is the supposed or real return to the mass of the succession, which an 
heir makes of the property he received in advance of his share or otherwise, 
in order that such property may be divided, together with the other effects 
of the succession. Civil Code of Lo. art. 1305. 
     2. As the object of collation is to equalize the heirs, it follows that 
those things are excluded from collation, which the heir acquired by an 
onerous title from the ancestor, that is, where he gave a valuable 
consideration for them. And upon the same principle, if a co-heir claims no 
share of the estate, he is not bound to collate. Qui non vult hereditatem, 
non cogitur ad collationem. See Id. art. 1305 to 1367; And @Hotchpot. 

COLLATION, eccl. law. The act by which the bishop, who has the bestowing of 
a benefice, gives it to an incumbent. T. L. 

COLLATION, practice. The comparison of a copy with its original, in order to 
ascertain its correctness and conformity; the report of the officer who made 
the comparison, is also called a collation.