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• international
  international

  adjective

  between or among nations; involving two or more nations.
• International
  International

  noun

  any of several international socialist organizations See Comintern First International Labour and Socialist International Second International Socialist International Trotskyist International Vienna Union

international

American  

[in-ter-nash-uh-nl, -nash-nl] / ˌɪn tərˈnæʃ ə nl, -ˈnæʃ nl /

adjective

1. between or among nations; involving two or more nations.

   international trade.

2. of or relating to two or more nations or their citizens.

   a matter of international concern.

3. pertaining to the relations between nations.

   international law.

4. having members or activities in several nations.

   an international organization.

5. transcending national boundaries or viewpoints.

   an international benefit;

   an international reputation.

   Synonyms:

   cosmopolitan, worldwide

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noun

• internationals
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) any of several international socialist or communist organizations formed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) a labor union having locals in two or more countries.

3. an organization, enterprise, or group, especially a major business concern, having branches, dealings, or members in several countries.

4. an employee, especially an executive, assigned to work in a foreign country or countries by a business or organization that has branches or dealings in several countries.

international ¹ British  

/ ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl /

adjective

1. of, concerning, or involving two or more nations or nationalities

2. established by, controlling, or legislating for several nations

   an international court

   international fishing rights

3. available for use by all nations

   international waters

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noun

1. sport

   1. a contest between two national teams

   2. a member of these teams

International ² British  

/ ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl /

noun

1. any of several international socialist organizations See Comintern First International Labour and Socialist International Second International Socialist International Trotskyist International Vienna Union

2. a member of any of these organizations

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International Cultural  

1. An international organization of workers founded by Karl Marx (see also Marx) in the 1860s. Weakened by disputes, it was dissolved in 1876, but it was succeeded by three later Internationals, which sought to spread communism throughout the world. The most effective of these was the Third International, formed by the Soviet Union in 1919 and dissolved in 1943 by Joseph Stalin.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• internationality
  noun
• noninternational
  adjective
• pseudointernational
  adjective
• quasi-international
  adjective
• uninternational
  adjective
• internationally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• internationals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of international

First recorded in 1770–80; inter- + national

Explanation

International is an adjective that describes something that involves two or more countries, like international laws that multiple countries obey, or an international flight from France to Japan. Break international into two halves to understand its meaning. The first half is the prefix inter-, which means “among,” or “between.” In the second half, you can see the word nation. Put them together and the word literally means “among or between nations.” Driving from the United States into Canada is an international road trip since you travel from on nation to another, and an international conference has guests from all over the world.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

international International internationals

Who could forget Pietersen announcing himself as an international cricketer in the country of his birth in 2005, smashing runs against the Proteas in a one-day series?

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Greenlanders and other Inuit peoples have hunted seals for their meat and skin for centuries, but international bans have collapsed sealskin markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

The moves took both the U.S. benchmark and the international benchmark to their highest levels since July 23.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026

Australian punter Jack Bouwmeester has an international player exemption.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Kok, a Dutch businessman of extreme wealth, was president of a Belgium-based banking company, SWIFT, and was responsible for organizing several international tournaments.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Russia’s Merlin-VR, which is suited to the prolonged monitoring of infrastructure, is likely involved in gray zone combat, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Every day is getting better,” Bronkhorst said in a faint voice on Aug. 6 from his bed at Jiahui International Hospital in Shanghai.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Over 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units are on scene of an incident involving a plane that overran a runway and struck multiple vehicles near Miami International Airport.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026

"We are facing something I have never faced before," said Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, in a post on social media.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

American wizards once kept Clabberts in their gardens to give early warning of approaching Muggles, but the International Confederation of Wizards has introduced fines which have largely ended this practice.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling

Their bench for the win over Aston Villa contained nine full internationals with two of those - Merino and Zubimendi - World Cup winners.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Former England internationals David James, Wes Brown and Lee Hendrie have all been declared bankrupt, while former Liverpool team-mate Emile Heskey lost a legal battle over an unpaid £1.637m tax bill in 2024.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

CricViz: Since the start of 2016 in men's internationals, 43 players have scored at least 1,500 runs in men's Tests, 1,000 runs in ODIs and 500 runs in T20Is.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Head coach Tandy has finished his first season in charge with nine defeats and three wins in 12 internationals with those victories coming against Italy, Fiji and Japan.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Many of the internationals understand the trauma of trying to get an American visa and that is a good place to start a friendship.”

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• foreign
• global
• universal