In British English, a collation is a light meal, often offered to guests when there is insufficient time for fuller entertainment. It is often rendered cold collation in reference to the usual lack of hot or cooked food.

It is derived from the term in the Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian traditions, where collation is used to describe each of the two small meals allowed on days of fasting (with or without abstinence). The term originated in Benedictine monasteries where the reading of excerpts from The Lives of the Fathers (Collationes Patrum), written by John Cassian, was followed by a light meal.

The Italian word colazione ("breakfast") and the Polish word kolacja ("supper") are derived from it.