collateral Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a security pledged for the repayment of a loan
adjective descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
indirect.
- cousins are collateral relatives
- an indirect descendant of the Stuarts
adjective satellite serving to support or corroborate
verificatory; validating; verifying; substantiative; confirming; confirmatory; corroboratory; corroborative; substantiating; validatory; confirmative.
- collateral evidence
adjective satellite accompany, concomitant
- collateral target damage from a bombing run
adjective satellite situated or running side by side
- collateral ridges of mountains

LL. collateralis; col- + lateralis lateral. See Lateral.

Coming from, being on, or directed toward, the side; as, collateral pressure. "Collateral light." Shak.
Acting in an indirect way.
If by direct or by collateral hand They find us touched, we will our kingdom give . . . To you in satisfaction. Shak.
Related to, but not strictly a part of, the main thing or matter under consideration; hence, subordinate; not chief or principal; as, collateral interest; collateral issues.
That he [Attebury] was altogether in the wrong on the main question, and on all the collateral questions springing out of it, . . . is true. Macaulay.
Tending toward the same conclusion or result as something else; additional; as, collateral evidence.
Yet the attempt may give Collateral interest to this homely tale. Wordsworth.
(Genealogy) Descending from the same stock or ancestor, but not in the same line or branch or one from the other; -- opposed to lineal. ✍ Lineal descendants proceed one from another in a direct line; collateral relations spring from a common ancestor, but from different branches of that common stirps or stock. Thus the children of brothers are collateral relations, having different fathers, but a common grandfather. Blackstone. collateral damage (Mil.) damage caused by a military operation, such as a bombing, to objects or persons not themselves the intended target of the attack.