The collective sum, aggregate, or mass of anything; specif., the people as a body; the state. "The proposition to give work by the collectivity is supposed to be in contravention of the sacred principle of monopolistic competition."
... murmured slowly, "Certainly what they call 'the world' deserves scorn. And all the same, taken separately, every individual of this collectivity is a man or woman like any other, a suffering being, who laughs just the same, like an eternal Figaro, for fear of being compelled ... — The Idol of Paris • Sarah Bernhardt
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