Etymology

lateral

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Today it means: Situated on one side or other of the body or of an organ, especially in the region furthest from the median plane. Full definition →

Latin laterālis
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromlaterālis“belonging to the side”
  2. English todaylateral

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.