Standard Lemma guide

unilateralism

noun · 2 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.

  • CMU ARPABET: Y UW2 N IH0 L AE1 T ER0 AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A tendency of nations to act on their own, or with only minimal consultation and involvement with other nations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the doctrine that nations should conduct their foreign affairs individualistically without the advice or involvement of other nations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism

Narrower terms: one-way street

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English unilateral Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English unilateralism From unilateral + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: unilateralismi — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • French: unilatéralisme — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Georgian: უნილატერალიზმი (unilaṭeralizmi) — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • German: Unilateralismus — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Greek: μονομέρεια (monoméreia) — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Indonesian: unilateralisme — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Italian: unilateralismo — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Romanian: unilateralism — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Spanish: unilateralismo — tendency of nations to act on their own
  • Swedish: unilaterism — tendency of nations to act on their own