To place or arrange words together, especially words that naturally occur next to each other in a language.
From Latin 'collocare' (com- 'together' + locare 'to place'). The term was adopted by linguists in the 20th century to describe the habitual juxtaposition of words.
The word 'collocation' is why 'strong tea' sounds right but 'powerful tea' sounds odd—languages have invisible rules about which words like to hang out together, and your brain learns these partnerships without realizing it.
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