unilateral

[ yoo-nuh-lat-er-uhl ]

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. Compare bilateral ( def 5 ).
7. Phonetics. (of an l -sound) characterized by passage of air on only one side of the tongue.

unilateral

/ 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. See bilateral
   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

Derived Forms

• ˌuniˈlateralism, noun
• ˌuniˈlaterally, adverb

Other Words From

• u·ni·lat·er·al·i·ty [yoo-n, uh, -lat-, uh, -, ral, -i-tee], noun
• u·ni·lat·er·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unilateral¹

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

Example Sentences

In practice, just as the decision to enter was regarded as a unilateral right by the United States, articulated in policy like the Eisenhower doctrine, so was the decision to withdraw — even if that left Afghanistan to the brutal Taliban.

From Washington Post

He said her unilateral overreach would leave a scar on the House’s integrity.

From Washington Post

Even if your employer thought less visibility and a less challenging position would mean less strain on your mental health, that’s not the employer’s unilateral call to make.

From Washington Post

Take New Hampshire, where state law gives Secretary of State Bill Gardner unilateral power to move the primary date as necessary to protect the state’s distinction of hosting the cycle’s first presidential primary.

From FiveThirtyEight

Statehood would be a unilateral gift to Democrats in a Senate that is at the moment evenly divided and a House that is within reach for the GOP next year.

From Time

Under these circumstances, the kind of unilateral executive action Obama is undertaking will become more and more common.

From The Daily Beast

At the same time, Democrats lost ground, now maintaining unilateral control in just six states, down from 11 before the midterms.

From The Daily Beast

To be clear, unilateral Democratic control is just as problematic as the reverse.

From The Daily Beast

If the president takes unilateral action to legalize millions of people, King said, “it will create a constitutional crisis.”

From The Daily Beast

He spoke to Putin on June 17 and came away offering a “unilateral cease-fire.”

From The Daily Beast

Your State Department has been distributing judicious hints that a unilateral policy toward Franco will upset the apple cart.

From Project Gutenberg

The body of the rules of this law can be altered by common consent only, not by a unilateral declaration on the part of one State.

From Project Gutenberg

The object of treaties is always an obligation, whether mutual between all the parties or unilateral on the part of one only.

From Project Gutenberg

In some cases of unilateral tubal abortion the operator has cleared out the tubal mole and clot, and left the tube.

From Project Gutenberg

Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature.

From Project Gutenberg