unilateral

American  

[yoo-nuh-lat-er-uhl] / ˌyu nəˈlæt ər əl /

adjective

1. relating to, occurring on, or involving one side only.

   unilateral development; a unilateral approach.

2. undertaken or done by or on behalf of one side, party, or faction only; not mutual.

   a unilateral decision; unilateral disarmament.

3. having only one side or surface; without a reverse side or inside, as a Möbius strip.

4. Law.

   1. pertaining to a contract that can be formed only when the party to whom an offer is made renders the performance for which the offeror bargains.

   2. pertaining to a contract in which obligation rests on only one party, as a binding promise to make a gift.

5. Botany. having all the parts disposed on one side of an axis, as an inflorescence.

6. through forebears of one sex only, as through either the mother's or father's line.

7. Phonetics. (of an l -sound) characterized by passage of air on only one side of the tongue.

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unilateral British  

/ ˌjuːnɪˈlætərəl /

adjective

1. of, having, affecting, or occurring on only one side

2. involving or performed by only one party of several

   unilateral disarmament

3. law (of contracts, obligations, etc) made by, affecting, or binding one party only and not involving the other party in reciprocal obligations

4. botany having or designating parts situated or turned to one side of an axis

5. sociol relating to or tracing the line of descent through ancestors of one sex only Compare bilateral

6. phonetics denoting an (l) sound produced on one side of the tongue only

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Other Word Forms

• unilateralism noun
• unilaterality noun
• unilaterally adverb

Etymology

Origin of unilateral

From the New Latin word ūnilaterālis, dating back to 1795–1805. See uni-, lateral

Example Sentences

She promised not to make unilateral calls as leader, which seemingly opened the door to relentless pressure - public and private - from her peers.

From BBC

By publicly underlining the importance of a "managed process" for the release of material relating to the former ambassador, he was signalling Streeting's unilateral release of exchanges clearly wasn't.

From BBC

Warsh can make unilateral decisions about how often and what he communicates.

From MarketWatch

The change will not come into effect immediately but Beijing is understood to have committed to unilateral visa-free entry for UK citizens, with a start date to be confirmed.

From BBC

In its own readout of the meeting, China said it was willing to "actively consider" implementing unilateral visa-free entry for the UK.

From BBC