NATO

American  

[ney-toh, en-ey-tee-oh] / ˈneɪ toʊ, ˈɛnˈeɪˈtiˈoʊ /

abbreviation

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization: a political and military alliance established in 1949 in Washington, D.C., by 12 countries in Europe and North America for the purpose of collective defense against aggression, now comprising 32 member nations: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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NATO British  

/ ˈneɪtəʊ /

acronym

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an international organization composed of the US, Canada, Britain, and a number of European countries: established by the North Atlantic Treaty (1949) for purposes of collective security. In 1994 it launched the Partnership for Peace initiative, in order to forge alliances with former Warsaw Pact countries; in 1997 a treaty of cooperation with Russia was signed and in 1999 Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic became full NATO members

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Example Sentences

France, Poland, the Nordic countries and Canada, which are now casting the contingency plan as a coalition-of-the-willing within NATO, according to officials involved.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Switzerland, which is not in NATO, had ordered five Patriot systems in 2022, with delivery scheduled to begin this year and to be completed in 2028.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities, said that Trump is effectively prevented from leaving NATO.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026

In a post on X, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he had a “constructive discussion” with Trump on Wednesday about NATO.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

The role of allies, principally NATO, was assumed and taken into account in planning, although the paradox of the issue of planning for a long versus short war in a nuclear world remained unresolved.

From Shock and Awe — Achieving Rapid Dominance by Wade, James P.