Unilateralny

Unilateralny is an adjective in Polish describing something that concerns or affects only one side, or is carried out by one party without involvement of others. It is used across several domains to indicate a one-sided nature, in contrast to bilateralny (two-sided) or multilateralny (many-sided). In practice, unilateralny appears in medical, legal, political, and everyday language, though in some contexts a native synonym like jednostronny may be preferred for general use.

Etymology and form: the term is a loanword formed from the Latin root unilateralus, from unus (one) and latus (side), and adapted into Polish with the standard adjectival ending -ny. The feminine form is unilateralna, the neuter unilateralne, with plural unilateralni (masculine personal) or unilateralne (neuter and feminine/plural in other cases), reflecting Polish adjective inflection.

Usage examples: in medicine, unilateralny describes conditions affecting only one side of the body, such as unilateralny ból, unilateralny niedowład. in law and politics, it denotes actions taken by a single side without the agreement of others, for example unilateralne sankcje or unilateralna decyzja rządu. In international relations, the term is often used alongside synonyms such as jednostronny to emphasize a one-sided stance.

Relation to related terms: unilateralny is commonly distinguished from dwustronny (bilateral) and multilateralny (multilateral). While unilateralny is widely understood in formal and technical contexts, in everyday Polish the word jednostronny may be preferred for general meaning of “one-sided.”

See also: bilateralny, multilateralny, jednostronny, sankcje unilateralne.