The two words sound good together, however, I am not sure if it is appropriate to use them together. Suppose I was using it as "To gather and collect data".
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1Why would one use both?– Rivers McForgeJan 10, 2021 at 4:33
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1Welcome to the site. It helps us answer if you show us what research you did on a question before posing it (please read the site tour). We can then focus on the issues remaining after your own research. In this case I have assumed you to be familiar with the most frequent definition of each word, leaving us with the nuances I have dealt with in my answer.– AntonJan 10, 2021 at 8:38
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1 Answer
Although often synonymous, gather may merely mean bringing together whereas collect has overtones of organising what has been gathered.
GATHER, COLLECT, ASSEMBLE, CONGREGATE mean to come or bring together into a group, mass, or unit. GATHER is the most general term for bringing or coming together from a spread-out or scattered state. a crowd quickly gathered COLLECT often implies careful selection or orderly arrangement. collected books on gardening ASSEMBLE implies an ordered union or organization of persons or things often for a definite purpose. experts assembled for a conference CONGREGATE implies a spontaneous flocking together into a crowd or huddle. congregating under a shelter
Hence, one may gather and then collect as a implied progression from bringing together the data to organising them.
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I believe your definition for 'collect' is referring almost totally to the 'I collect stamps' subsense, not the 'we collected the few remaining conkers' = 'gather' sense. Looking in 5 dictionaries, the 'gather' sense is, as I suspected, judged to be the default sense. Using it as OP does is inadvisable when 'gather and sort/arrange/collate ...' are available. Jan 10, 2021 at 15:16
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@EdwinAshworth You kindly confirm what I wrote and what is in Merriam Webster and others. Thank you. But the greater truth does not invalidate the smaller one.– AntonJan 10, 2021 at 15:18