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• international
  international

  adjective

  between or among nations; involving two or more nations.
• International
  International

  noun

  any of several international socialist organizations See Comintern First International Labour and Socialist International Second International Socialist International Trotskyist International Vienna Union

international

American  

[in-ter-nash-uh-nl, -nash-nl] / ˌɪn tərˈnæʃ ə nl, -ˈnæʃ nl /

adjective

1. between or among nations; involving two or more nations.

   international trade.

2. of or relating to two or more nations or their citizens.

   a matter of international concern.

3. pertaining to the relations between nations.

   international law.

4. having members or activities in several nations.

   an international organization.

5. transcending national boundaries or viewpoints.

   an international benefit;

   an international reputation.

   Synonyms:

   cosmopolitan, worldwide

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noun

• internationals
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) any of several international socialist or communist organizations formed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) a labor union having locals in two or more countries.

3. an organization, enterprise, or group, especially a major business concern, having branches, dealings, or members in several countries.

4. an employee, especially an executive, assigned to work in a foreign country or countries by a business or organization that has branches or dealings in several countries.

international ¹ British  

/ ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl /

adjective

1. of, concerning, or involving two or more nations or nationalities

2. established by, controlling, or legislating for several nations

   an international court

   international fishing rights

3. available for use by all nations

   international waters

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noun

1. sport

   1. a contest between two national teams

   2. a member of these teams

International ² British  

/ ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl /

noun

1. any of several international socialist organizations See Comintern First International Labour and Socialist International Second International Socialist International Trotskyist International Vienna Union

2. a member of any of these organizations

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International Cultural  

1. An international organization of workers founded by Karl Marx (see also Marx) in the 1860s. Weakened by disputes, it was dissolved in 1876, but it was succeeded by three later Internationals, which sought to spread communism throughout the world. The most effective of these was the Third International, formed by the Soviet Union in 1919 and dissolved in 1943 by Joseph Stalin.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• internationality
  noun
• noninternational
  adjective
• pseudointernational
  adjective
• quasi-international
  adjective
• uninternational
  adjective
• internationally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• internationals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of international

First recorded in 1770–80; inter- + national

Explanation

International is an adjective that describes something that involves two or more countries, like international laws that multiple countries obey, or an international flight from France to Japan. Break international into two halves to understand its meaning. The first half is the prefix inter-, which means “among,” or “between.” In the second half, you can see the word nation. Put them together and the word literally means “among or between nations.” Driving from the United States into Canada is an international road trip since you travel from on nation to another, and an international conference has guests from all over the world.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

international International internationals

Instead, the proposed framework emphasizes research led locally, greater investment in regional collections and scientific infrastructure, stronger taxonomic expertise, long-term monitoring, fairer international partnerships, and closer connections between scientists and decision-makers.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

Consider the foreign-born who joined the Gold Rush, the Chinese railroad workers, and still and always the Latino population along the long, wide international border.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The banks had cleared millions of dollars in transactions for Huawei that potentially violated international sanctions, the U.S. alleges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

While investors may not consciously try to boost their European exposure, passive inflows into non-U.S. equities have returned, mostly through international allocations.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

He actually liked sitting for hours in conference rooms talking about international TB control.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

International commercial trade in orangutans is prohibited under Cites - the global agreement governing trade in endangered wildlife.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

A world premiere and the opening-night selection of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which begins on Thursday, “Being Heumann” will hit theaters Nov. 6 and begin streaming on Apple TV Nov. 13.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Construction, which began five years ago, is being led by a state-owned South Korean company with financing from a host of international banks, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

The two pilots of an Amazon cargo plane that overran the runway while landing at Miami International Airport, striking a van and killing five people, have been released from hospital, officials said Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

At the time, Dr. Ochoa was an astronaut on board the International Space Station.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Opener Donald has been included in the 16-player squad for the T20 series, while seamer Crocombe makes the 16-man line-up for the one-day internationals.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

There are also five youth one-day internationals between England and Pakistan from 2 September, placing another decision is on the horizon.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The actions of the Argentina players on the pitch were heavily criticised by former England internationals.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Historically, most of Argentina's internationals have come through private schools in the country's rugby heartlands.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Many of the internationals understand the trauma of trying to get an American visa and that is a good place to start a friendship.”

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• foreign
• global
• universal