collateral

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a security pledged for the repayment of a loan
  2. adjective descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
  3. adjective serving to support or corroborate

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.

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