multilateral

Etymology

It is formed from English multi- + lateral.^[2][3][4][5] The Shorter Oxford derives it instead from Late Latin multilaterus with the suffix -al, or from Medieval Latin multilateralis;^[6] the OED records the first from the 6th century and the second from the 13th, in Duns Scotus.^[2] It also compares French multilatère (1680), Italian moltilatero (in Florio, 1598) and Spanish multilátero (1567), all meaning many-sided.^[2] Johnson (1755) derived it from Latin multus (“many”) and lateralis;^[7] Lateral is from latus (“side”).^[8] Etymonline takes the sense "involving three or more countries" as based on bilateral,^[3] and the OED compares that word and unilateral.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In geometry, having more than four sides, polygonal: 1606, in B. Barnes's Foure Bookes of Offices.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the geometric sense to the 1690s,^[3] the Shorter Oxford to the late 17th century^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1690–1700.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, having many aspects or sides, is found by 1748 according to Etymonline,^[3] and in the OED from 1784; the OED now calls both this and the geometric sense rare.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave only "having many sides".^[7] The sense "involving three or more countries" is dated 1802 by Etymonline;^[3] the OED has a legal use for agreements made by three or more parties in Bentham (1827) and its first political quotation from 1858.^[2] In British education a multilateral school, from 1938, offered two or more distinct secondary curricula, and was also called simply a multilateral.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1606 – in geometry, having more than four sides.^[2][4]
• 1748 – figurative, having many aspects.^[3] The OED's first record is from 1784.^[2]
• 1802 – involving three or more countries.^[3] The OED's first record of the political sense is from 1858.^[2]
• 1827 – in law, made by three or more parties.^[2]
• 1938 – of a school, offering several secondary curricula.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Involving or agreed by more than two nations, governments or parties: The ministers met for multilateral talks on fishing rights.^[9][4][2]
2. Of a contract: having three or more parties.^[4][2]
3. (chiefly British, education) Of a secondary school: offering several distinct curricula; compare comprehensive.^[4][2]
4. Having many sides; many-sided, also figuratively.^[9][4][2]

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A multilateral school.^[2]

Word family

• multilaterally
• multilateralism
• multilateralist
• multilateralize

Related words

• lateral
• bilateral
• unilateral
• collateral
• equilateral
• quadrilateral

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins