sidebar

Etymology

It is formed from English side + bar.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, a bar beside a judge's bench or at the side of a courtroom, including a former bar at the side of Westminster Hall: 1642, in G. Huntley's Argument upon a General Demurrer.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word was used in mechanics, law and other fields before its newspaper sense.^[3] A bar at the side of any object is recorded from 1675,^[2] the side plates of a saddle from 1688,^[2] and a toll gate on a side road from 1760.^[2] In American carriage-building the sidebars were the flexible bars running along each side of a buggy, on which the body rested (1856);^[2][4] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to about 1875.^[4] In North American courts a conference between judge and lawyers out of the jury's hearing, held at the side of the bench, was called a sidebar from 1928.^[2][7][8] Also in North America, the word came to mean a side issue (1933) and then a short supplementary article printed beside a main story (1937),^[2] the sense Etymonline dates to 1948 and Dictionary.com to 1945–50.^[3][6] The computing sense, a narrow panel at the side of a screen or web page, is recorded from 1997.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1642 – law: a bar beside a judge's bench or at the side of a court.^[2]
• 1675 – a bar at the side of an object or structure.^[2]
• 1688 – one of the plates joining the front and back of a saddle.^[2][4]
• 1760 – a toll gate on a side road (now historical).^[2]
• 1856 – one of the flexible side bars of a buggy.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1875.^[4]
• 1928 – a conference between judge and counsel out of the jury's hearing.^[2]
• 1933 – a side issue.^[2]
• 1937 – a short supplementary article in a newspaper or magazine.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1948.^[3]
• 1952 – adjective, secondary, supplementary.^[2]
• 1997 – a narrow panel at the side of a computer screen.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short article or item, often boxed, printed beside a longer one in a newspaper, magazine or book and giving extra or contrasting information.^[7][4][9][2]
2. A narrow section at the side of a web page or window on a computer screen, showing links or extra information.^[2][9]
3. (law) A conference between the judge and the lawyers held out of the jury's hearing; also, the place beside the bench where it is held: The judge called both attorneys to sidebar.^[7][8][2]
4. A secondary or incidental matter; a side issue.^[2][9]
5. Either of the two plates that join the front and back of a saddle.^[4][2]
6. Either of a pair of flexible bars running along the sides of a buggy or other light carriage, on which the body rests.^[4][2]

Adjective

1. Secondary or supplementary: a sidebar remark.^[2]

Related words

• side
• bar

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 u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins