col·la·tion   (kə-lā'shən, kŏ-, kō-)    n.   The act or process of collating. A light meal permitted on fast days. A light meal.

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.

2. (Print.) The gathering and examination of sheets preparatory to binding.

3. The act of conferring or bestowing. [Obs.]

Not by the collation of the king . . . but by the people. --Bacon.

4. A conference. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

5. (Eccl. Law) The presentation of a clergyman to a benefice by a bishop, who has it in his own gift.

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.

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.

Note: This also obtains in the civil law, and is found in the code of Louisiana. --Bouvier.

8. (Eccles.) A collection of the Lives of the Fathers or other devout work read daily in monasteries.

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.

A collation of wine and sweetmeats. --Whiston.

Collation of seals (Old Law), a method of ascertaining the genuineness of a seal by comparing it with another known to be genuine. --Bouvier.

Main Entry: col·la·tion
Pronunciation: k&-'lA-sh&n, kä-, kO-
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Latin collatio bonorum (in Roman law) contribution made by emancipated heirs to an estate under an intestate succession, literally, bringing together of goods
in the civil law of Louisiana : the actual or supposed return of goods to the mass of the succession that is made by an heir who received property in advance for the purpose of having the property divided with the rest of the succession —compare HOTCHPOT
NOTE: Children and grandchildren of a decedent must return anything that they received in advance by donation inter vivos. Further, they cannot claim legacies made to them unless made expressly by the decedent as an advantage over their coheirs to be received besides their portion of the succession. Donations made to a grandchild by a grandparent during the life of the child's father are not subject to collation. A collation may be made in kind by the actual delivering up of the thing given, or by taking less from the succession in proportion to the value of the thing received in advance.