Etymologically
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lateral

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈlæt(ə)ɹəl/[1]
  • US: /ˈlætəɹəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin laterālis (“of or on the side of the body”),[2][3][4][5][6] partly through latéral, recorded in French from 1315.[2][3][4] The Latin adjective was formed from latus (“side, flank”) with the suffix that became -al.[2][7][8] The noun latus is of unknown origin according to the OED,[2] and Etymonline quotes de Vaan's verdict that no good etymology is available;[3] Klein and Merriam-Webster think it probably related to lātus (“broad, wide”), the source of latitude.[9][7][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or at the side: probably before 1425, in an English translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, already with reference to the sides of the body;[2][11] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century,[3] and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century.[7] Dictionary.com dates the word only to 1590–1600.[8]

Semantic evolution

The general sense "of or towards the side" spread into many technical fields: in mechanics, of forces acting at right angles to a line of motion (1599);[2] in botany, of buds and branches growing from the side of a stem (1665, in Hooke's Micrographia);[2] in crystallography (1816) and in phonetics, of a sound such as l made with the breath passing at the sides of the tongue (1867).[2][12] Johnson (1755) defined it as growing out on the side or belonging to the side, citing branches and blood vessels.[13] The anatomical sense of lying on either side of the median plane of the body is dated by Etymonline to 1722.[3] A sense "existing or moving side by side", used especially of winds from the same quarter, appears in Chapman's Homer (1598) and is now rare.[2][6] The noun, a side part or branch, is recorded from 1635,[4][3] though Merriam-Webster dates it to 1578.[7] In American football the lateral pass gave a noun (1934 in Etymonline) and a verb, to make such a pass (1930).[3][2][7] Two 20th-century figurative uses followed: a lateral move in employment, to a post of equal rank (1941),[2] and lateral thinking, solving problems by indirect and creative means (1969).[2]

Timeline

  • ?a1425 – of or at the side, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac.[2][11]
  • 1578 – the noun, in Merriam-Webster.[7]
  • 1598 – side by side, of winds.[2]
  • 1599 – (mechanics) acting at right angles to a line of motion.[2]
  • 1635 – the noun, a side part.[4]
  • 1665 – (botany) growing from the side of a stem.[2]
  • 1867 – (phonetics) of a sound such as l.[2]
  • 1930 – the verb, to make a lateral pass.[2][7]
  • 1941 – of a sideways move between jobs of equal level.[2]
  • 1969 – relating to lateral thinking.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, at, towards or coming from the side: The bridge was damaged by lateral forces during the storm.
  2. (anatomy) Situated away from the middle line of the body or of an organ.
  3. (phonetics) Of a consonant such as l: made with the air passing over one or both sides of the tongue.
  4. Of a move to another job: at the same level of seniority.
  5. Relating to lateral thinking; approaching a problem from an unexpected angle.

Noun

  1. A side part, such as a side branch of a plant or a side channel of a pipe or drain system.
  2. (phonetics) A lateral consonant.
  3. (American football) A lateral pass.

Verb

  1. (American football) To throw a lateral pass; to throw the ball sideways or backwards.

Word family

  • laterally
  • latitude
  • collateral
  • bilateral
  • unilateral
  • equilateral
  • multilateral

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.