lateral

UK/ˈlæt(ə)ɹəl/US/ˈlætəɹəl/

adjectiveB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,856 of 15,258mostly written

Lateral means to do with the side, or moving sideways. A lateral movement, lateral thinking, the lateral surface.

Lateral thinking is Edward de Bono's phrase for solving a problem by approaching it from an unexpected angle rather than by pressing straight on. In anatomy, lateral means away from the midline, and its opposite is medial.

Definitions of lateral

1adjectivelateralTo do with the side, or moving sideways.B2+
“The injured player couldn't make quick lateral movements on the tennis court.”

lateral is a quality of position.

Where it comes from

Latin lateralis comes from latus, a side. Bilateral and collateral are relatives.

Latin
laterālis — belonging to the side
English, today
lateral

Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side”), from latus + -ālis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

lateral in the wild

Some languages, such as the Iwaidja and Ilgar languages of Australia, have lateral flaps, and others, such as the Xhosa and Zulu languages of Africa, have lateral clicks.
Lateral consonant
Plosives are never lateral, but they may have lateral release.
Lateral consonant
The fibula (pl.: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below.
Fibula
No language is known to contrast such a sound with a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative.
Voiced dental and alveolar lateral approximants

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the laterālis family

lateral bilateral

lateral — used about once every 2,202 pages · #6,856 · point at the bar for the others

collateral

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