Origin: Latin suffix -al
Collateral has 8 different meanings across 2 categories:
a security pledged for the repayment of a loan
"The bank required his car to serve as collateral for the business loan."
A security or guarantee (usually an asset) pledged for the repayment of a loan if one cannot procure enough funds to repay.
"The bank required his house to be used as collateral for the business loan."
In plain English: Collateral is something you pledge as security to get a loan if you can't pay it back later.
"The bank required his car to be used as collateral for the loan."
descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
"cousins are collateral relatives"
"an indirect descendant of the Stuarts"
serving to support or corroborate
"collateral evidence"
additional but secondary; auxiliary;
"The new project serves as collateral support to the company's primary manufacturing operations."
occurring with or following as a consequence
"an excessive growth of bureaucracy, with attendant problems"
"snags incidental to the changeover in management"
"attendant circumstances"
"the period of tension and consequent need for military preparedness"
"the ensuant response to his appeal"
"the resultant savings were considerable"
"collateral target damage from a bombing run"
Parallel, along the same vein, side by side.
"The two rivers flowed in parallel courses through the valley for miles before diverging at the delta."
In plain English: Collateral means something that is used as security for a loan but isn't actually part of what you are borrowing.
"The bank required his car to serve as collateral for the loan."
Usage: Use this adjective when describing items that run parallel to something else rather than as financial security. Avoid confusing it with the noun form, which refers specifically to assets pledged for a loan repayment.
The word "collateral" comes from Old French and Medieval Latin, where it originally meant "on the same side." It is built from the Latin prefix col- (meaning "together with") and the root latus (meaning "side").