Final answer:
The return type of a LINQ query is a collection of generic type, specifically an IEnumerable or IQueryable of T, where T is the type of the data.
Step-by-step explanation:
The return type of a LINQ (Language Integrated Query) query is typically a collection of generic type. When you execute a LINQ query, it commonly returns an IEnumerable<T> or a IQueryable<T>, where T is the type of the objects being queried. This allows the LINQ query to be flexible and work with any type of data. For example, if you're querying a list of strings, the result will be an IEnumerable<string>. If you're querying a list of a custom class such as Book, it will return an IEnumerable<Book>. LINQ utilizes deferred execution, meaning the query is not executed until you iterate over the collection.