UNESCO

American

[yoo-nes-koh] / juˈnɛs koʊ /

noun

an agency of the United Nations charged with instituting and administering programs for cooperative, coordinated action by member states in education, science, and the arts.

UNESCO British

/ juːˈnɛskəʊ /

acronym

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization: an agency of the United Nations that sponsors programmes to promote education, communication, the arts, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of UNESCO

U(nited) N(ations) E(ducational) , S(cientific, and) C(ultural) O(rganization)

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.

On Dec. 5, 2023, UNESCO, the United Nation’s agency aimed at safeguarding social and cultural foundations, recognized the musical genre as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026

In June 2022, UNESCO, which is committed to increasing global tsunami risk awareness among coastal communities, declared:

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

Architecture student Doha Abdelaziz Mohamed is part of the crew bringing the mosque back to life with funding from the British Council and support from UNESCO.

From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026

She said mobile phones could help overcome the illiteracy that still affects 773 million people worldwide according to UNESCO.

From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024

Tensions that cause wars: common statement and individual papers by a group of social scientists brought together by UNESCO.

From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1977 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023