Etymograph

English

colligate

Colligate comes from Middle English colligat(e) ‘bound together’, from Latin colligō ‘to bind, fasten’, and ultimately from ligō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō1‘tie, bind, fasten’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligō2‘to bind, fasten’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligātus2‘fastened together, having been fastened together, connected, having been connected’perfect passive participle of colligō
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colligat(e)2‘bound together’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1578colligate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin colligo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English colligate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1578, John Banister, The Historie of Man: “The first & second Vertebre […] are most especially…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligōWiktionary, Latin colligo‘tie, bind, fasten’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligōWiktionary, English colligate‘to bind, fasten’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligātusWiktionary, English colligate‘fastened together, having been fastened together, connected, having been connected’perfect passive participle of colligō
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colligat(e)Wiktionary, English colligate‘bound together’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1578colligateWiktionary, English colligate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1578, John Banister, The Historie of Man: “The first & second Vertebre […] are most especially…”

Equivalent to co- + ligate

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’

Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’

English co-

Latin ligō ‘to bind’

Latin ligātus ‘connected, tied, bound, having been connected’

English ligate

first attested First attested in 1471 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1471, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English colligat(e) (‘bound together’)(adjective), Latin colligātus, perfect passive participle of colligō (‘to bind, fasten; to unite, combine’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’

obligation, oblige, 11 more

through Latin ligō ‘tie, bind, fasten’

league, religious, religion, ally, liable, alloy, liaison, lien, ligament, ligand, religiosity, liaise, ligature, legato, ligation, obligate, 12 more

through Latin colligō ‘to bind, fasten’

collection, collective, coil, collector, cull, recollect, 1 more

Today it means

verb To tie or bind together.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “colligate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin colligo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin ligō / colligate

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