sideline

Etymology

It is formed from English side + line.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is partly a conversion of the noun and partly a compound of the noun side with the verb line.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A line forming the side of a figure or an area, especially a boundary along the side of a plot of land or a road: probably about 1560, in L. Digges's Pantometria, printed in 1571.^[2] Etymonline dates the general sense, a line along or attached to the side of anything, only to 1768,^[3] the Shorter Oxford to the mid 18th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1685–95.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century a sideline was a rope tying together the fore and hind leg on one side of a horse (1803), a branch line of a railway (1831), and in Canada a rural road running across a concession (1831).^[2][4] The sporting sense, either of the lines marking the side boundaries of a playing field or court, is recorded from 1862,^[2][3][6] and in the plural the word soon named the area just beyond them, where coaches, substitutes and spectators stand (1894).^[2] From there it was used of a position from which one watches events without taking part, on the sidelines (1895);^[2][4] Etymonline dates this figurative sense to 1934 and derives it either from sport or from the railway sense.^[3] In business, a sideline was first an extra line of goods (1886) and then an activity pursued besides one's main occupation to earn more money.^[2][3][6] The verb first meant to hobble an animal with a sideline (1837, in Washington Irving);^[2][6] in the 20th century, originally in the United States, it came to mean keeping an injured player out of a game (1913), putting a person out of action (1952) and pushing someone or something to the margins (1953).^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1560 – a line forming the side of a shape or area.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense to 1768.^[3]
• 1803 – a rope or strap hobbling the legs on one side of a horse.^[2]
• 1831 – a branch line of a railway; in Canada, a side road.^[2] Etymonline dates the railway sense to 1890.^[3]
• 1837 – verb, to hobble an animal with a sideline.^[2][6]
• 1862 – a side boundary line of a playing field or court.^[2][3][6]
• 1886 – an auxiliary line of goods or business.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense to 1890.^[3]
• 1894 – the sidelines, the area just outside the field of play.^[2]
• 1895 – a position of an onlooker rather than a participant.^[2] Etymonline dates the figurative sense to 1934.^[3]
• 1913 – verb, to keep a player out of a game.^[2] Etymonline dates the verb "to put out of play" to 1945.^[3]
• 1953 – verb, to push aside, marginalize.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (sport) Either of the lines marking the side boundaries of a playing field or court.^[7][6][8]
2. the sidelines: the area just outside these lines, where coaches, substitutes and spectators stay.^[8][2]
3. the sidelines: the position of someone who watches events rather than taking part in them: She stayed on the sidelines during the board's dispute.^[8][2][4]
4. An activity pursued in addition to one's main job, especially to earn extra income: He repairs bicycles as a sideline.^[7][6][2]
5. An extra line of goods sold besides a business's main merchandise.^[7][6][8]
6. A railway line branching off from the main line.^[2][4]
7. A rope tying together the fore and hind leg on one side of an animal, to hobble it.^[2][4]

Verb

1. To keep a player out of a game or team, as an injury does: A knee injury sidelined the striker for a month.^[7][6][2]
2. To prevent a person from carrying on an activity or career, or to remove someone or something to a less important position; to marginalize.^[7][2]
3. (Western US) To hobble an animal by tying together the front and hind leg on one side.^[6][2]

Word family

• sideliner

Related words

• side
• line
• sidetrack

References

1. ^ 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 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt