multilateral

[muhl-ti-lat-er-uhl]

adjective

1. having several or many sides; many-sided.

2. participated in by more than two nations, parties, etc.; multipartite.

   multilateral agreements on disarmament.

multilateral

/ ˌmʌltɪˈlætərəl, -ˈlætrəl /

adjective

1. of or involving more than two nations or parties

   a multilateral pact

2. having many sides

Other Word Forms

• multilateralism noun
• multilateralist adjective
• multilaterally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of multilateral¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; multi- + lateral

Example Sentences

The G20 summit, which was for the first time held in Africa, ended with a joint declaration committing to "multilateral co-operation" on climate change mitigation and economic inequality.

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Gbadegesin said that CIF in the past largely worked with multilateral development banks to add scale, mainly because it was backing pilot trials.

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The G20 summit in South Africa, a gathering of the world's major economies, has ended with a joint declaration committing to "multilateral co-operation".

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Other themes of this weekend's summit include securing climate change financing, increasing the participation of African countries in multilateral forums and ensuring that they get the best value out of their critical minerals.

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Since 2007 it has relied heavily on multilateral African Union security forces, paid for primarily by Western countries.

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