Final answer:
A collection of languages that share a common origin in the recent past but have since evolved into individual languages is known as a language family.
Step-by-step explanation:
A collection of languages that share a common origin in the recent past but have since evolved into individual languages is known as a language family.
These language families can be grouped into larger language groups, such as the Indo-European family, which includes several subfamilies like Germanic, Romance, and Slavic.
These language families and groups demonstrate how languages have evolved and separated over time, while still sharing a common ancestral language.