collocation

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a grouping of words in a sentence
  2. noun the act of positioning close together (or side by side)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin collocātiō (“a putting together”). By surface analysis, col- (“together”) + location. The technical sense in linguistics was established in 1951, although it may actually be earlier. First attested in 1605.

In classic literature

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