# lateral
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side”), from latus (“the side or flank”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlæt.ə.ɹəl/, /ˈlæt.ɹəl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ætəɹəl

### Adjective

lateral (comparative more lateral, superlative most lateral)
* To the side; of or pertaining to the side.
    Instead of a promotion, I opted for a lateral move to a similar position in the marketing department.
** (anatomy, zootomy) Situated on one side or other of the body or of an organ, especially in the region furthest from the median plane.
    Antonym: medial
    The medial side of the knee faces the other knee, while the outer side of the knee is lateral.
    A fish senses changes in hydrodynamic pressure with its lateral line.
** (pathology) Affecting the side or sides of the body, or confined to one side of the body.
** (physics) Acting or placed at right angles to a line of motion or strain.
* (UK) Non-linear or unconventional, as in, lateral thinking.
* (phonetics, phonology) (of a consonant, especially the English clear l) Pertaining to speech sounds generated by partially blocking the egress of the airstream with the tongue, leaving space on one or both sides of the occlusion for air passage.

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “geometric”): longitudinal, vertical

#### Coordinate terms

* anterior
* distal
* dorsal
* lateral
* medial
* posterior
* proximal
* ventral

#### Derived terms

* acousticolateral
* ambilateral
* anterodorsolateral
* anterolateral
* apicolateral
* axiolateral
* basolateral, basilateral
* bilateral
* caudolateral
* centrolateral
* collateral
* contralateral, controlateral
* costolateral
* counterlateral
* craniolateral
* dextrolateral
* distolateral
* dorsolateral
* ectolateral
* equilateral
* frontolateral
* hemilateral
* heterolateral
* homolateral
* inferolateral
* intermediolateral
* ipsilateral
* isolateral
* labiolateral
* lateral aberration
* lateral area
* lateral canthus
* lateral cricoarytenoid muscle
* lateral cuneiform bone
* lateral flow test
* lateral fricative
* lateral gene transfer
* lateral geniculate nucleus
* lateral hood
* lateralism
* lateralist
* laterality
* lateralize
* lateral line
* laterally
* lateral malleolus, lateral mal
* lateral mark
* lateral meristem
* lateral moraine
* lateralmost
* lateral pass
* lateral pectoral nerve
* lateral pterygoid muscle
* lateral pterygoid nerve
* lateral pterygoid plate
* lateral raise
* lateral rectus
* lateral scale
* lateral sclerosis
* lateral sinus
* lateral stratum
* lateral sulcus
* lateral surface
* lateral thinker
* lateral thinking
* lateral transfer
* lateralward
* latero-
* laterolateral
* left lateral
* linguolateral
* longilateral
* matrilateral
* mediolateral
* mesiolateral
* mesolateral
* midlateral
* monolateral
* multilateral
* nonlateral
* obliquolateral
* occipitolateral
* octavolateral
* octolateral
* omnilateral
* orbitolateral
* palmarolateral
* patrilateral
* plantolateral, plantarolateral
* plurilateral
* polylateral
* posterolateral, posteriolateral
* prolateral
* proximolateral
* quadrilateral
* quinquelateral
* retrolateral
* right lateral
* rostrolateral
* sacrolateral
* semilateral
* septilateral
* septolateral
* sinistrolateral
* sublateral
* superolateral
* supralateral
* temporolateral
* tetralateral
* trilateral
* unilateral
* ventrolateral
* ventrosublateral

#### Related terms

* vastus lateralis

#### Translations
### Noun

lateral (plural laterals)
* An object, such as a passage or a protrusion, that is situated on the side of something else.
* (linguistics) A sound produced through lateral pronunciation (such as /l/ in lateral).
    Coordinate terms: approximant, fricative, nasal, trill, plosive
* (American football) A lateral pass.
* (business) An employee hired for a position at the same organizational level or salary as their previous position.
* A lateral canal, a canal built alongside an existing stream.
** 1956, United States House Appropriations Committee, Public Works Appropriations for 1957, page 703:
    […] Canal and laterals, section 4, and the first part of section 5; and Miller Canal and laterals.
** 1971, Howard S. Latham, James M. Verzuh, Reducing Hazards to People and Animals on Reclamation ..., page 7:Two-thirds of the drownings, or 103, occurred along the back of the canal or lateral. […] 4 drownings per year occurred in reaches of canals or laterals protected by fencing.

#### See also

* lateral consonant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Verb

lateral (third-person singular simple present laterals, present participle lateralling or lateraling, simple past and past participle lateralled or lateraled)
* To move (oneself or something) in a lateral direction.
* (American football) To execute a lateral pass.

#### Derived terms

* lateraling

### References

* “lateral”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “lateral”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lateral”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin laterālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [lə.təˈɾal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [la.teˈɾal]

### Adjective

lateral m or f (masculine and feminine plural laterals)
* lateral

#### Derived terms

* lateralitzar
* lateralment

### Noun

lateral m or f by sense (plural laterals)
* wingback
* (castells) a casteller in the pinya, who stands beside the baix and holds the legs of one of the segons to prevent them from swaying sideways

### Further reading

* “lateral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “lateral”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “lateral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “lateral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## German
### Etymology

In the 20th century, from Latin laterālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lateˈʁaːl/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -aːl

### Adjective

lateral (strong nominative masculine singular lateraler, not comparable)
* lateral

#### Declension
## Indonesian
### Etymology

Internationalism, borrowed from Dutch lateraal, from French latéral, from Latin laterālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /la.tə.ˈral/
* Rhymes: -ral
* Hyphenation: la‧tê‧ral

### Adjective

latêral
* lateral:
** to the side; of or pertaining to the side.
** (phonetics, phonology) pertaining to speech sounds generated by partially blocking the egress of the airstream with the tongue, leaving space on one or both sides of the occlusion for air passage.

### Noun

latêral (plural lateral-lateral)
* lateral:
** (anatomy) an object, such as a passage or a protrusion, that is situated on the side of something else.
** (phonetics, phonology) A sound produced through lateral pronunciation (such as /l/ in lateral).

### Related terms

* bilateral
* multilateral

### Further reading

* “lateral” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Interlingua
### Adjective

lateral (not comparable)
* lateral

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /la.teˈɾaw/ [la.teˈɾaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /lɐ.tɨˈɾal/ [lɐ.tɨˈɾaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /lɐ.tɨˈɾal/ [lɐ.tɨˈɾaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /lɐ.tɨˈɾa.li/
* Rhymes: -al, -aw
* Hyphenation: la‧te‧ral

### Adjective

lateral m or f (plural laterais)
* lateral (of, pertaining to or located in the side)
* of lesser importance

#### Derived terms

* lateralmente

### Noun

lateral f (plural laterais)
* (sports) sideline (line defining the side boundary of a playing field)
* (sports) throw-in (set-piece where the ball is thrown back into play)
* (phonetics) lateral (sound in which the airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue)

### Noun

lateral m or f by sense (plural laterais)
* (sports) winger (offensive player who plays on either side of the centre)
    Synonym: ala

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French latéral, from Latin lateralis.

### Adjective

lateral m or n (feminine singular laterală, masculine plural laterali, feminine and neuter plural laterale)
* lateral

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin laterālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lateˈɾal/ [la.t̪eˈɾal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: la‧te‧ral

### Adjective

lateral m or f (masculine and feminine plural laterales)
* lateral, to the side
* (linguistics) lateral

#### Derived terms

* anterolateral
* cisura lateral
* decúbito lateral
* esclerosis lateral amiotrófica
* inferolateral
* lateralmente
* saque lateral
* superolateral

#### Related terms

* lado
* lateralidad

### Noun

lateral m or f by sense (plural laterales)
* (linguistics) lateral
* (soccer) full-back, fullback (a player who plays on the left or right side of defence)
* (soccer) throw-in
    Synonyms: saque lateral, saque de banda

### See also

* (soccer) extremo, carrilero, defensa, central

### Further reading

* “lateral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Adjective

lateral (not comparable)
* to the side, lateral
* (linguistics) lateral

#### Declension

$^1$ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. $^2$ Dated or archaic. $^3$ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

### Noun

lateral c
* (linguistics) a lateral consonant, a lateral

#### Declension
### Further reading

* lateral in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* lateral in Svensk ordbok (SO)