lateral /lat″ərəl/ [L, latus, side] , 1. pertaining to the side. 2. away from the midsagittal plane. 3. farther from the midsagittal plane. 4. to the right or left of the midsagittal plane. 5. pertaining to a speech sound produced by passing air along one or both sides of the tongue, such as /l/.
