adj

bilateral

beye-LA-tuh-ruhl

adj

Involving two sides or two parties equally.

"The two countries signed a bilateral trade agreement."

"They reached a bilateral ceasefire after months of negotiation."

Having matching left and right sides, as in body structure.

"Most animals, including humans, show bilateral symmetry."

How to Use Bilateral

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishInvolving two sides — most often used for agreements between two countries or organizations.

Easily confused with

multilateral unilateral →

Common pairings

bilateral agreement bilateral talks bilateral symmetry

more bilateral comparative, bilaterals plural, most bilateral superlative

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The two countries signed a _____ trade agreement.

From bi- ("two") plus lateral ("relating to a side").

feral general liberal funeral lateral mineral federal several visceral ephemeral collateral unilateral