Standard Lemma guide

unilateral

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌjuːnɪˈlætərəl/
  • UK: [ˌjʉː.nɪˈlæt.ə.ɹɫ̩]
  • UK: [ˌjʉː.nɪˈlæt͡ʃ.ɹɫ̩]
  • US: [ˌjʉː.nəˈɫæɾ.ɚ.ɻɫ̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ætəɹəl
  • CMU ARPABET: Y UW2 N AH0 L AE1 T ER0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Done by one side only.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Affecting only one side of the body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Binding or affecting one party only.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, finance, law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

involving only one part or side

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • unilateral paralysis
  • a unilateral decision

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: one-sided

Antonyms: multilateral

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

tracing descent from either the paternal or the maternal line only

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

A modern creation (circa 1802), from New Latin ūnilaterālis (“one-sided”), from Latin ūnus (“one”) + laterālis (“sided, lateral”), equivalent to uni- + lateral.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أُحَادِيّ الجَانِب (ʔuḥādiyy al-jānib) — done by one side only
  • Armenian: միակողմանի (miakoġmani) — done by one side only
  • Azerbaijani: birtərəfli — done by one side only
  • Belarusian: аднабако́вы (adnabakóvy) — done by one side only
  • Belarusian: аднабо́чны (adnabóčny) — done by one side only
  • Bulgarian: едностра́нен (ednostránen) — done by one side only
  • Catalan: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單方面 /单方面 (dānfāngmiàn) — done by one side only
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單邊 /单边 (dānbiān) — done by one side only
  • Chinese Mandarin: 片面 (piànmiàn) — done by one side only
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單向 /单向 (dānxiàng) — done by one side only
  • Cornish: untu — done by one side only
  • Czech: jednostranný — done by one side only
  • Danish: ensidig — done by one side only
  • Dutch: eenzijdig — done by one side only
  • Finnish: yksipuolinen — done by one side only
  • French: unilatéral — done by one side only
  • Galician: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Georgian: ცალმხრივი (calmxrivi) — done by one side only
  • Georgian: ერთმხრივი (ertmxrivi) — done by one side only
  • German: einseitig — done by one side only
  • Greek: μονομερής (monomerís) — done by one side only
  • Ido: unlatera — done by one side only
  • Indonesian: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Irish: aontaobhach — done by one side only
  • Italian: unilaterale — done by one side only
  • Kazakh: біржақты (bırjaqty) — done by one side only
  • Macedonian: едностран (ednostran) — done by one side only
  • Malay: sehala — done by one side only
  • Norwegian: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Polish: jednostronny — done by one side only
  • Portuguese: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Romanian: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Russian: односторо́нний (odnostorónnij) — done by one side only
  • Slovak: jednostranný — done by one side only
  • Spanish: unilateral — done by one side only
  • Swedish: ensidig — done by one side only
  • Telugu: ఏకపక్ష (ēkapakṣa) — done by one side only
  • Ukrainian: однобі́чний (odnobíčnyj) — done by one side only
  • Ukrainian: односторо́нній (odnostorónnij) — done by one side only
  • Welsh: unochrog — done by one side only