international

See also: International and internațional

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin inter

Latin inter-bor.

English inter-

English national

English international

From inter- +‎ national. Introduced in modern English by Jeremy Bentham in his An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1780.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.təˈnæʃ.(ə.)n(ə)l/, [ˌɪntəˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)ɫ]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.(t)ɚˈnæʃ.(ə.)n(ə)l/, [ˌɪntɚˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)ɫ], [ˌɪɾ̃ɚˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)ɫ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æʃənəl

Adjective

international (comparative more international, superlative most international, abbreviation int'l or intl or intl.)

1. Of or having to do with more than one nation.
   1. Between or among nations.

      an international discussion

   2. Participated in by two or more nations.

      an international competition

      • 2025 February 20, Homero De la Fuente, “Canada beats Team USA in overtime thriller to win hockey’s first-ever 4 Nations Face-off championship”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 March 2025:

        Canada’s men’s hockey team defeated the USA 3-2 in overtime Thursday to capture the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off Championship as the NHL put on a show in the first edition of this midseason international tournament.

   3. Common to, or affecting, two or more nations.

      an international rule

      • [1780, Jeremy Bentham, “Preface”, in An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation‎^[2], published 1789, archived from the original on 5 January 2026, page 6:

        Principles of legiſlation in matters betwixt nation and nation, or, to uſe a new though not inexpreſſive appellation, in matters of international law.]

   4. Serving two or more nations.

      an international airport

2. Of or concerning the association called the International.
3. Independent of national boundaries; common to all people.
   • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[3], volume 188, number 26, archived from the original on 13 October 2026, page 19:

     It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today – with America standing out in the forefront and the UK not far behind.

   The atmosphere is an international resource.

   the international community of scholars

4. Foreign; of another nation.

   an international student

   • 2014 October 27, Steve Ginsburg, “More international players than ever before, league says”, in Reuters‎^[4], archived from the original on 26 October 2015:

     The number of international players in the National Basketball Association has increased 10 percent from one year ago, the league said on Monday.

Derived terms

• customary international law
• Incoterm
• INMARSAT
• intermestic
• international acre
• international affairs
• international age
• international airport
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• International Atomic Time
• international auxiliary language
• International Bible Students
• international call prefix
• international call sign
• international candle
• international chess
• international community
• International Criminal Court
• international crisis
• International Day of the Girl
• International Day of the Girl Child
• International Falls
• international Fisher effect
• international foot
• international football
• international grandmaster
• international humanitarian law
• internationalise, internationalize
• internationalism
• internationality
• internationalization
• international language
• international law
• internationally
• International Maritime Organisation
• international mile
• internationalness
• international nonproprietary name
• international orange
• international order
• international organisation, international organization
• international phonetic alphabet
• international relations
• international reply coupon
• international rules football
• international salute
• international school
• international scientific vocabulary
• International Sign
• international socialist
• international standard
• international student
• international studies
• International Style
• international style
• international system
• International Time Bureau
• international unit
• international waters
• Interpol
• int'l, intl
• Moscow International Business Center
• Moscow International Business Centre
• noninternational
• one-day international
• private international law
• public international law
• uninternational

Translations

between, concerning, or transcending multiple nations

• Afrikaans: internasionaal (af) sg
• Albanian: ndërkombëtar (sq), internacional
• Arabic: دُوَلِيّ m (duwaliyy)
• Armenian: միջազգային (hy) (miǰazgayin)
• Asturian: internacional
• Azerbaijani: beynəlxalq (az), beynəlmiləl
• Bashkir: халыҡара (xalıqara)
• Basque: nazioarteko, internazional
• Belarusian: міжнаро́дны (mižnaródny), інтэрнацыяна́льны (internacyjanálʹny)
• Bengali: আন্তর্জাতিক (bn) (antorjatik)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: pangkinaban

• Breton: etrebroadel (br)
• Bulgarian: междунаро́ден (bg) (meždunaróden), интернациона́лен (bg) (internacionálen)
• Burmese: နိုင်ငံတကာ (my) (nuingngamta.ka)
• Catalan: internacional (ca)
• Cebuano: internasyonal
• Cherokee: ᎡᎶᎯ (chr) (elohi), ᎠᏰᎵᏚᎾᏙᏢᏒ (ayelidunadotlvsv)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 國際 / 国际 (gwok³ zai³)

  Hokkien: 國際 / 国际 (zh-min-nan) (kokchè)

  Mandarin: 國際 / 国际 (zh) (guójì)

• Chukchi: ымваратэн (ymvaratėn)
• Crimean Tatar: halqara
• Czech: mezinárodní (cs) m
• Danish: international (da)
• Dutch: internationaal (nl)
• Esperanto: internacia
• Estonian: rahvusvaheline
• Faroese: altjóða
• Finnish: kansainvälinen (fi)
• French: international (fr) m
• Galician: internacional (gl)
• Georgian: საერთაშორისო (saertašoriso), ინტერნაციონალური (inṭernacionaluri), სახელმწიფოთაშორისი (saxelmc̣ipotašorisi), სახელმწიფოთშორისი (saxelmc̣ipotšorisi) (alternative form)
• German: international (de), zwischenstaatlich (de)
• Greek: διεθνής (el) m (diethnís)
• Gujarati: આંતરરાષ્ટ્રીય (āntarrāṣṭrīya)
• Haitian Creole: entènasyonal
• Hebrew: בֵּינְלְאֻמִּי \ בינלאומי (beinl'umí)
• Hindi: अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय (antarrāṣṭrīya)
• Hungarian: nemzetközi (hu)
• Iban: entarabansa
• Icelandic: alþjóðlegur (is)
• Indonesian: mancanegara (id), antarabangsa (id), internasional (id)
• Interlingua: international
• Irish: idirnáisiúnta
• Italian: internazionale (it)
• Japanese: 国際的な (ja) (こくさいてきな, kokusaiteki na)
• Kazakh: халықаралық (xalıqaralıq), интернационалдық (ıynternacıyonaldıq)
• Khmer: អន្តរជាតិ (ʼɑntaʼraʼciət)
• Komi:

  Komi-Zyrian: войтыркостса (vojtyrkostsa)

• Korean: 국제(國際) (ko) (gukje), 국제적(國際的) (ko) (gukjejeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: navneteweyî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: эл аралык (ky) (el aralık), интернационалдык (ky) (internatsionaldık)
• Lao: ສາກົນ (sā kon), ລະຫວ່າງຊາດ (la huāng sāt), ນານາຊາດ (nā nā sāt), ນານາປະເທດ (nā nā pa thēt)
• Latin: internātiōnālis
• Latvian: starptautisks, internacionāls
• Lithuanian: tarptautinis
• Macedonian: меѓународен (meǵunaroden), интернациона́лен (internacionálen)
• Malay: antarabangsa (ms), internasional (ms)
• Malayalam: അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര (ml) (antārāṣṭra), അന്തർദേശീയ (ml) (antaṟdēśīya)
• Manx: eddyr-ashoonagh
• Māori: aowhānui, tauhonoao
• Marathi: आंतरराष्ट्रीय (āntararāśṭrīya)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: олон улсын (olon ulsyn)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: internasjonal (no)

  Nynorsk: internasjonal

• Occitan: internacional (oc)
• Pannonian Rusyn: медзинародни (medzinarodni), интернационални (internacionalni), медзинационални (medzinacionalni)
• Pashto: نړيوال (ps) (naṛəywãl), بين الاقوامي (baynolaqwāmí), بين المللي (ps) (baynolmelalí), انټرنېشنل (entarnešnál)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِیْن‌ُٱلْمِلَلی (beyn-ol-melali), اَنْتِرْناسْیونال (anternâsyonâl), بِیْن‌ُٱلْمِلَل (beyn-ol-melal) (attributively)

• Polish: międzynarodowy (pl), internacjonalny (pl)
• Portuguese: internacional (pt)
• Romanian: internațional (ro)
• Russian: междунаро́дный (ru) (meždunaródnyj), интернациона́льный (ru) (intɛrnacionálʹnyj)
• Sanskrit: सर्वदेशीय (sa) (sarvadeśīya), अन्ताराष्ट्रिय (antārāṣṭriya)
• Scottish Gaelic: eadarnàiseanta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: међуна́роднӣ

  Latin: međunárodnī (sh)

• Sicilian: ntirnazziunali (scn)
• Slovak: medzinárodný (sk)
• Slovene: mednaroden
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: internacionalny, mjezynarodny

  Lower Sorbian: internacionalny, internacionalnje, mjazynarodny, mjazynarodnje

• Spanish: internacional (es)
• Swahili: kimataifa (sw)
• Swedish: internationell (sv)
• Tagalog: pandaigdig
• Tajik: байналхалқӣ (baynalxalqi), байналмилалӣ (baynalmilali), интернатсионалӣ (internatsionali)
• Tamil: சர்வதேச (ta) (carvatēca)
• Tatar: халыкара (xalıqara), милләтара (millätara)
• Telugu: అంతర్జాతీయ (te) (antarjātīya)
• Thai: สากล (th) (sǎa-gon), ระหว่างประเทศ (rá-wàang-bprà-têet), ข้ามชาติ (kâam-châat), นานาชาติ (naa-naa-châat)
• Tibetan: རྒྱལ་སྤྱི (rgyal spyi), རྒྱལ་འབྲེལ (rgyal 'brel)
• Turkish: uluslararası (tr), enternasyonal (tr)
• Turkmen: halkara
• Udmurt: калыккуспо (kalykkuspo)
• Ukrainian: міжнаро́дний (mižnaródnyj), інтернаціона́льний (internacionálʹnyj)
• Urdu: بَینَ ٱلْاَقْوامی (ur) (baina l-aqvāmī), اِنْٹَرْنَیشْنال (inṭarnaiśnāl)
• Uyghur: خەلقئارا (xelq'ara)
• Uzbek: xalqaro (uz), internatsional (uz)
• Vietnamese: quốc tế (vi) (國際)
• Volapük: bevünetik (vo)
• Welsh: rhyngwladol (cy), rhyng-genedlaethol m
• Yiddish: אינטערנאַציאָנאַל (internatsyonal)

Noun

international (plural internationals)

1. (sports, chiefly UK, Ireland, Australia) Someone who has represented their country in a particular sport.

   The United team includes five England internationals.

   • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "The young fellah meant no real harm. After all, he's an International, so if he takes half an hour to describe a game of football he has more right to do it than most folk."

2. (sports, chiefly Britain, Ireland, Australia) A game or contest between two or more nations.
   • 2023 July 26, Paul Clifton, “A (safe and secure) Day at the Races...”, in RAIL, number 988, page 35:

     SWR has more than its fair share of major national events. As well as the [Queen's] funeral and the coronation in the past 12 months, annual events include racing at Ascot, grand slam tennis at Wimbledon, and rugby internationals at Twickenham.

3. (politics) A transnational organization of political parties of similar ideology.

Translations

transnational organization

• Arabic: الدولية f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 萬國公黨 / 万国公党, 國際政黨 / 国际政党

• Czech: internacionála f
• Danish: internationale c
• Finnish: internationaali (fi)
• French: internationale (fr) f
• Galician: internacional (gl) f
• Hungarian: internacionálé (hu)
• Japanese: 国際政党組織
• Korean: 국제정당조직 (gukjejeongdangjojik), 국제정당 (gukjejeongdang), 정치적 인터내셔널 (jeongchijeok inteonaesyeoneol)
• Lithuanian: internacionalas m
• Polish: międzynarodówka f
• Russian: интернациона́л (ru) m (intɛrnacionál)
• Spanish: internacional (es) f
• Tajik: интернатсионал (internatsional), байналмилал (baynalmilal)
• Ukrainian: інтернаціонал m (internacional)

See also

• supranational

Danish

Etymology

From New Latin internationalis, a compound of inter- +‎ nationalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈentˢɐnaɕoˈnæˀl]

Adjective

international

1. international, having to do with more nations
2. international, having to do with relations between two or more nations

   Synonym: mellemfolkelig

3. international, foreign, having to do with another nation than your own

   Synonym: udenlandsk

Inflection

Inflection of international

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	international	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	internationalt	—	—2
plural	internationale	—	—2
definite attributive1	internationale	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Related terms

• internationalisere
• internationalisme
• internationalist
• internationalitet

References

• “international” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From inter- +‎ national.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.na.sjɔ.nal/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Homophones: internationale, internationales
• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧na‧tio‧nal

Adjective

international (feminine internationale, masculine plural internationaux, feminine plural internationales)

1. international

   Les Nations Unies sont une organisation internationale.

   The United Nations is an international organization.

Derived terms

• alphabet phonétique international
• communauté internationale
• droit international
• Internationale
• internationalisation
• internationaliser
• organisation internationale
• rendre justice
• Système international

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: entènasyonal
• → Portuguese: internacional
• → Romanian: internațional

Further reading

• “international”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Etymology

From English international. By surface analysis, inter- +‎ national.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪntɐnat͡si̯oˈnaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl
• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧na‧ti‧o‧nal

Adjective

international (strong nominative masculine singular internationaler, not comparable)

1. international

   Synonyms: global, zwischenstaatlich

2. foreign (clarification of this definition is needed (are German-speaking Austrians and Swiss people considered "international" from a German's perspective?))
   • 2023 March 21, u/Vijkhal, r/hamburg‎^[5] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 21 March 2023:

     Generell ist Hamburg deutlich weniger international. Hier gibts zwar auch viele internationale Menschen aber nicht so krass wie in Berlin. Dass man in einem Geschäft nur auf Englisch bestellen kann würde in HH nie passieren.

     In general, Hamburg is significantly less international. There are many foreigners here but not as many as in Berlin. Being able to order at a store only in English would never happen in Hamburg.

Declension

Positive forms of international (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist international	sie ist international	es ist international	sie sind international
strong declension (without article)	nominative	internationaler	internationale	internationales	internationale
	genitive	internationalen	internationaler	internationalen	internationaler
	dative	internationalem	internationaler	internationalem	internationalen
	accusative	internationalen	internationale	internationales	internationale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der internationale	die internationale	das internationale	die internationalen
	genitive	des internationalen	der internationalen	des internationalen	der internationalen
	dative	dem internationalen	der internationalen	dem internationalen	den internationalen
	accusative	den internationalen	die internationale	das internationale	die internationalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein internationaler	eine internationale	ein internationales	(keine) internationalen
	genitive	eines internationalen	einer internationalen	eines internationalen	(keiner) internationalen
	dative	einem internationalen	einer internationalen	einem internationalen	(keinen) internationalen
	accusative	einen internationalen	eine internationale	ein internationales	(keine) internationalen

Further reading

• “international”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[6] (in German)
• “international” in Duden online

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.ter.na.tsjoˈnal/

Adjective

international (comparative plus international, superlative le plus international)

1. international