multinational
Americannoun
-
multinationals
plural
adjective
-
of, relating to, or involving several nations.
-
noting or pertaining to multinationals.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of multinational
Explanation
When something is described as multinational, it involves more than two countries. A multinational corporation buys and sells in several countries, and it may also have offices in these countries. A multinational conflict is a war that involves the governments of three or more countries. Multinational peacekeepers might be from an organization like the United Nations (which could also be described as a multinational organization), working in many countries toward a peaceful agreement between them. The adjective multinational uses the prefix multi-, or "many," adding it to national, from the Latin nationem, "birth, kind, or tribe."
Vocabulary lists containing multinational
Political Geography - Middle School
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Political Geography - High School
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Economics
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Britain and France are to lead a military exercise to test a multinational force's ability to deploy to Ukraine, if there is a peace deal.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
A US jury has sided with multinational giant Bayer over three women's claims its Roundup weedkiller caused their cancer, the latest blow to plaintiffs in thousands of similar cases.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The option of turning to large multinational oil companies quickly stalled.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
A multinational study found that people taking these drugs were more than four times as likely to report nail detachment, a condition in which the nail separates from the skin underneath it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Big companies and multinational corporations were calling, too.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
His vision for Africa and better grasp of the local markets over decades has helped him gain a competitive edge over foreign multinationals in fields like manufacturing and fossil fuels.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, adds to a string of deals between multinationals and innovation biotech firms in China and Hong Kong.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
GCCs are offshore innovation hubs of multinationals that perform business critical functions such as R&D, corporate strategy and artificial intelligence development among a plethora of other key jobs.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
A stronger dollar can hurt the overseas earnings of large U.S. multinationals, while also tightening financial conditions for companies and countries that borrow in dollars.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
These multinationals went global for markets and labor, spearheaded first by the expansion of the Dutch and English joint-stock companies and the Industrial Revolution.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
