Collateral definition

kə-lătər-əl
Of, relating to, or guaranteed by a security pledged against the performance of an obligation.

A collateral loan.

adjective
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Situated or running side by side; parallel.
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Coinciding in tendency or effect; concomitant or accompanying.
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Property acceptable as security for a loan or other obligation.
noun
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A collateral relative.
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Anything, such as stocks or bonds, that secures or guarantees the discharge of an obligation.
noun
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Of a secondary nature; subordinate.

Collateral target damage from a bombing run.

adjective
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Having an ancestor in common but descended from a different line.
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Side by side; parallel.
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Parallel in time, rank, importance, etc.; corresponding.
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Descended from the same ancestors but in a different line.

A cousin is a collateral relative.

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A collateral relative.
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An asset pledged as payment for a loan if the debtor fails to make regular payments. Collateral on a consumer loan may be an automobile, real estate, or other significant personal property. Collateral on a business loan may be property, equipment, or other assets of the company. On asset-backed debt, the collateral is the underlying mortgages or credit-card receivables.
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Accompanying or existing in a subordinate, corroborative, or indirect relationship.
adjective
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Collateral is defined as something side by side, or something pledged to guarantee that a loan will be repaid.

An example of collateral is the death of one of two soldiers who had been fighting in positions next to each other; collateral damage.

An example of collateral is someone temporarily giving their phone to a friend in exchange for borrowing an expensive tool; collateral loan.

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The definition of collateral is something given as a promise that a loan will be repaid.

An example of collateral is a parent giving their house temporarily to a bail bondsman to get their child out of jail.

noun
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Designating or of security given as a pledge for the fulfillment of an obligation.
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Secured or guaranteed by property, as stocks or bonds.

A collateral loan.

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A relative, such as an aunt, uncle, or cousin, who has a common ancestor with a person but is not that person’s ancestor. Also called collateral. See also ancestor and descendant.
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An attack in a judicial proceeding against another judicial proceeding or a judgment entered in another court. For example, a party in Florida may attack a judgment entered against him by an Alaska court on the grounds that Alaska did not have jurisdiction over him or the underlying cause of action. See also habeas corpus and direct.
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See heir.
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In tort law, the doctrine that any compensation, such as insurance benefits, received by an injured party from a source that is independent of the tortfeasor does not reduce the damages that the tortfeasor is obligated to pay. See also subrogation.
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Parallel, along the same vein, side by side.
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Being aside from the main subject; tangential, subordinate, ancillary.

Although not a direct cause, the border skirmish was certainly a collateral incitement for the war.

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(family) Of an indirect ancestral relationship, as opposed to lineal descendency.

Uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces are collateral relatives.

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Relating to a collateral in the sense of an obligation or security.
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Expensive to the extent of being paid through a loan.
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Coming or directed along the side.

Collateral pressure.

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Acting in an indirect way.
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A security or guarantee (usually an asset) pledged for the repayment of a loan if one cannot procure enough funds to repay. (Originally supplied as "accompanying" security.)
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(now rare) A collateral (not linear) family member.
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A branch of a bodily part or system of organs.

Besides the arteries blood streams through numerous veins we call collaterals.

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Serving to support or corroborate.

Collateral evidence.

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Secondary; subordinate; supplemental. Property, including accounts, contract rights, and chattel paper, that is subjected to a security interest in exchange for credit or as security for a debt. Indirect; on a parallel or diverging line.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
collateral
Plural:
collaterals

Origin of collateral

  • Middle English from Medieval Latin collaterālis Latin com- com- Latin latus later- side

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • 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”).

    From Wiktionary

Collateral Sentence Examples

  • This collateral supply not being sufficient to keep up the proper flow of blood through the part the veins tend to become thrombosed, thus increasing the engorgement.

  • Thus an inheritance tax was first adopted by Pennsylvania in 1826, yet sixty years later only two states were taxing collateral inheritances.

  • The preparation of gut is, however, merely an unimportant collateral manufacture.

  • Collateral as well as direct evidence must be obtained.

  • He can sell the certificate, use it as collateral, or hold it for the future.

More sentences

Related articles

Words near collateral in the Dictionary