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

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

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

Education is far from a perfect corollary for class.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

One corollary number that Resendez points to is that median household income is around $80,000.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026

The corollary is lower sales, thinner margins and smaller corporate profits.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

The corollary ought to be obvious but clearly isn’t: Tell citizens exercising their right to protest not to get in the way of those enforcing the law.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026

And a nogas regulation would have the corollary benefit of automatically reducing trash and crowding because considerably fewer people would attempt Everest if they knew supplemental oxygen was not an option.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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

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

Smartly — because Park is very smart — the play is content to absorb the themes of “Macbeth” without providing corollaries for each of its plot points.

From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 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

Related Words

• analogy
• upshot