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

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

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

If, as the old saying goes, “all politics is local,” then the modern-day corollary in an era of smartphones is, “all conflict is global.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

A corollary of Erb’s investment lesson is that when an asset that previously deviated from fair value eventually returns towards fair value, there is no guarantee that it will stop once it gets there.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

The amputee, fully aware that his answer would raise an immediate corollary question, said, “They were bit off.”

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

The closest corollaries might be data center REITs like Equinix —though Equinix owns the data centers themselves, not the power equipment, and has a 2.4% dividend yield.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2025

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

He added two corollaries later: The evolving technology would make computers more and more expensive to build, yet consumers would be charged less and less for them because so many would be sold.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

That statement might have been the high water mark of scientism and its corollaries, materialism and reductionism.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 7, 2019

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