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

For national tournaments, the corollary is how poorer countries always have to match up against richer ones for regional faceoffs and qualifiers that culminate in the quadrennial dream that is the World Cup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Education is far from a perfect corollary for class.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

The corollary issue in this indictment is the extraordinary trust donors place in mission-driven organizations, particularly ones considered progressive, and how rarely that trust is verified.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

In Washington’s case, the most obvious corollary to his view of American national interest was the avoidance of a major war during the gestative phase of national development.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

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

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

“Borgen” has always winked at real-life political events, and here, too, the corollaries resonate.

From New York Times ● May 26, 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