As a noun, a collar is the band of material around the neck of a shirt, coat, or animal’s neck. As a verb, it can mean to grab someone by the collar or to catch them.
“Collar” comes from Old French “coler,” from Latin “collare,” meaning “neckband,” from “collum,” meaning “neck.” It originally referred to anything worn around the neck.
Our word for a shirt’s collar is directly tied to the Latin for “neck,” which also shows up in “collarbone.” When police “collar” a suspect, the image is literally of seizing someone by the neckband.
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