Collateral

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈlætəɹəl/

Definitions

1. Something valuable pledged to guarantee repayment of a loan ; something that accompanies or is subordinate to the main item or event
2. An asset offered to secure a debt or credit arrangement ; additional or indirect, related as a minor or secondary part
3. Property given as a guarantee for money borrowed ; positioned as an accompanying or indirect element in relation to something primary

Etymology: "Collateral" began life as a purely spatial word. Its Latin ancestor "collateralis" combined "col-", meaning "together with", and "latus", meaning "side", so the original sense was something standing alongside something else. Medieval Latin speakers used the adjective for relatives descended from a common ancestor but along a different branch, like cousins rather than a parent and child. English first recorded the word around 1378, borrowing it through Old French. From that sense of two things standing side by side came the financial meaning. A pledge held alongside the main debt, backing the loan up if the borrower defaulted, is a thing lying at the borrower's side rather than at the core of the agreement. The noun sense of something accompanying or subordinate to a main item followed the same logic, so a "collateral" effect is one that runs alongside the principal outcome rather than being the outcome itself.

Synonyms: secondary, ancillary, auxiliary

Antonyms: primary, main, principal