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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lateral.

To the side; of or pertaining to the side.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈlæt(ə)ɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlat͡ʃ(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlat(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlætəɹəl/General-American

  1. To the side; of or pertaining to the side. Situated on one side or other of the body or of an organ, especially in the region furthest from the median plane.

    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.

  2. To the side; of or pertaining to the side. Affecting the side or sides of the body, or confined to one side of the body.

  3. To the side; of or pertaining to the side. Acting or placed at right angles to a line of motion or strain.

  4. To the side; of or pertaining to the side. At the same level in hierarchy or rank, especially pertaining to a movement that does not involve a change in rank, status, or level.

    Instead of a promotion, I opted for a lateral move to a similar position in the marketing department.
    lateral hiring

  5. Non-linear or unconventional, as in, lateral thinking; outside the box.

    UK

  6. (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.

Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈlæt(ə)ɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlat͡ʃ(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlat(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlætəɹəl/General-American

  1. An object, such as a passage or a protrusion, that is situated on the side of something else.

  2. A sound produced through lateral pronunciation (such as /l/ in lateral).

  3. A lateral pass.

  4. An employee hired for a position at the same organizational level or salary as their previous position.

  5. A lateral canal, a canal built alongside an existing stream.

Where this word comes from

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

verb/ˈlæt(ə)ɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlat͡ʃ(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlat(ə)ɹəl/British, Southern, Standard/ˈlætəɹəl/General-American

  1. To move (oneself or something) in a lateral direction.

  2. To execute a lateral pass.

Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.