Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   Col·lat·er·al

   /kəˈladərəl/

   

   noun

   • 1. something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default: "she put her house up as collateral for the bank loan"
   • 2. a person having the same descent in a family as another but by a different line.

   adjective

   • 1. additional but subordinate; secondary: "the collateral meanings of a word"
   • ▪ used euphemistically to refer to inadvertent casualties among civilians and destruction in civilian areas in the course of military operations: euphemistic "munitions must be able to destroy the target without causing collateral damage"
   • 2. descended from the same stock but by a different line: "a collateral descendant of George Washington"
   • 3. situated side by side; parallel: "collateral veins"

   Word Origin late Middle English (as an adjective): from medieval Latin collateralis, from col- ‘together with’ + lateralis (from latus, later- ‘side’). collateral (sense 1 of the noun) (originally US) is from the phrase collateral security, denoting something pledged in addition to the main obligation of a contract.

   Derivatives

   • 1. collaterality noun
   • 2. collaterally adverb

   Scrabble Points: 12

   • C

     3

   • O

     1

   • L

     1

   • L

     1

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   Powered by Oxford Languages

   More Definitions, Word Origin & ScrabbleShow less