1, In financial situations, property or goods used as security for a loan and forfeited if the loan is not repaid by the borrower: The Smith’s house was used as a collateral in case the debt they had with the bank was not paid back.
2. A relative descended from the same ancestor as another person but through a different set of parents, grandparents, and other earlier relatives: The inheritance went to Marilyn, the only survivor of the family who was an old lady. The collaterals were all very distant relatives and not directly akin to each other.
3. Etymology: from medieval Latin collateralis, literally "side by side with", from Latin lateralis, "on the side". © ALL rights are reserved.

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