adj · noun · 21 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/kəˈlætəɹəl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ætəɹəl
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 L AE1 T ER0 AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Parallel, in the same vein, side by side.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Corresponding; accompanying, concomitant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Being aside from the main subject, target, or goal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
collateral damage
Although not a direct cause, the border skirmish was certainly a collateral incitement for the war.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tangential, subordinate, ancillary
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Of an indirect ancestral relationship, as opposed to lineal descendency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Qualifier: genealogy
Examples
a collateral descendant
Uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces are collateral relatives.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adj
Meaning 5
Relating to a collateral in the sense of an obligation or security.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adj
Meaning 6
Expensive to the extent of being paid through a loan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
adj
Meaning 7
Coming or directed along the side.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
collateral pressure
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
adj
Meaning 8
Acting in an indirect way.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
adj
Meaning 9
Having the phloem and xylem adjacent.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
A security or guarantee (usually an asset) pledged for the repayment of a loan if one cannot procure enough funds to repay.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: collateral security, pledge
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
A collateral (not linear) family member.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable
Qualifier: genealogy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
A branch of a bodily part or system of organs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences
Examples
Besides the arteries blood streams through numerous veins we call collaterals.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
13
noun
Meaning 13
Printed materials or content of electronic media used to enhance sales of products (short form of collateral material).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, marketing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
14
noun
Meaning 14
A thinner blood vessel providing an alternate route to blood flow in case the main vessel becomes occluded.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
15
noun
Meaning 15
A contemporary or rival.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
16
noun
Meaning 16
An instance of hitting two or more targets, often enemy players, with a single shot, usually when they are lined up behind each other.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: video-games
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
17
adjective
Meaning 17
descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: security interest
Narrower terms: guarantee, guaranty
History
Etymology
Recorded since c.1378, from Old French, from Medieval Latin collaterālis, from Latin col- (“together with”) (a form of con-) + the stem of latus (“side”). By surface analysis, col- + lateral.
Across languages
Translations
139 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
у́спореден
(úsporeden)
— parallel, along the same vein
Chinese Mandarin:
旁系的
(pángxì de)
— parallel, along the same vein
Dutch:
collateraal
— parallel, along the same vein
Dutch:
neven-
— parallel, along the same vein
Dutch:
zijdelings
— parallel, along the same vein
Finnish:
rinnakkainen
— parallel, along the same vein
Finnish:
rinnakkais-
— parallel, along the same vein
French:
collatéral
— parallel, along the same vein
German:
nebeneinanderliegend
— parallel, along the same vein
German:
benachbart
— parallel, along the same vein
Greek:
παράλληλος
(parállilos)
— parallel, along the same vein
Hungarian:
párhuzamos
— parallel, along the same vein
Hungarian:
szomszédos
— parallel, along the same vein
Japanese:
傍系の
(bōkei no)
— parallel, along the same vein
Korean:
평행의
(pyeonghaeng-ui)
— parallel, along the same vein
Manx:
co-heuagh
— parallel, along the same vein
Portuguese:
colateral
— parallel, along the same vein
Russian:
боково́й
(bokovój)
— parallel, along the same vein
Russian:
побо́чный
(pobóčnyj)
— parallel, along the same vein