corollary

American  

[kawr-uh-ler-ee, kor-, kuh-rol-uh-ree] / ˈkɔr əˌlɛr i, ˈkɒr-, kəˈrɒl ə ri /

noun

• corollaries
  plural

1. Mathematics. a proposition that is incidentally proved in proving another proposition.

2. an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion.

3. a natural consequence or result.

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corollary British  

/ kəˈrɒlərɪ /

noun

1. a proposition that follows directly from the proof of another proposition

2. an obvious deduction

3. a natural consequence or result

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adjective

1. consequent or resultant

corollary Scientific  

/ kôr′ə-lĕr′ē /

1. A statement that follows with little or no proof required from an already proven statement. For example, it is a theorem in geometry that the angles opposite two congruent sides of a triangle are also congruent. A corollary to that statement is that an equilateral triangle is also equiangular.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• corollaries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of corollary

1325–75; Middle English < Late Latin corollārium corollary, in Latin: money paid for a garland, a gift, gratuity. See corolla, -ary

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Explanation

Corollary describes a result that is the natural consequence of something else. You could say that your renewed love of books is a corollary to the recent arrival of a book store in your neighborhood. The noun corollary describes an action's consequence. For example, a good grade on an exam is a corollary of studying for long hours. The word is often seen with the prepositions "to" or "of," as in "a corollary to fortune is fame." Math enthusiasts may already be familiar with the word corollary, which can be used more formally to describe a new proof or proposition that follows naturally from an established one.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

corollary corollaries

That’s a corollary of knowing where his feet are.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

That age-old venture principle has an uncomfortable corollary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Fair enough, but the corollary of that case is that the platform Bluesky exists to counter, X, is somehow a more authentic representation of the world.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

Saudi Aramco is the lone historical corollary for IPOs of that size.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

For this was what he’d vowed as a corollary of his main aim — to study until he could see the pylons of the Golden Gate Bridge.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

There are clear corollaries between then and now.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

While there are many corollaries, “Girls State” is, in compelling and illuminating ways, not a twin to “Boys State.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2024

As a result, mathematicians tended to keep their discoveries to themselves, deploying their theorems, corollaries and lemmas only to win intellectual battles.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 24, 2023

Godwin, who recently staged another “Much Ado,” set on the Italian Riviera, for London’s National Theatre, doubles down here on the farcical corollaries in the laws of attraction.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2022

For us, such struggles — for sunglasses, long trousers, study privileges, equalized food — were corollaries to the struggle we waged outside prison.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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Related Words

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