Lateralism
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An organizational structure in which competing interests of equal power negotiate with each other. uncountable
"Thus, career ladders existed in the industry as a whole, not in the Royal Court itself, which contributed to a sense of lateralism rather than hierarchy in the hotel. Lateralism was also reflected in the Royal Court's minimal specialization, largely because of its size."
- 2 A scheme for how nations work together or compete, such as multilateralism, bilateralism, unilateralism, etc. countable
"One simple distinction commonly made among the lateralisms is the number of parties involved in the transaction."
- 3 Dominance or specialization by one side of the body; lateralization. countable, uncountable
"Tonnini has found also that there is a difference of temperature in the two sides of the body, and of sensibility in them, so that one of the salient characters of moral insanity was lateralism, or, so to speak, sensory left-handedness, that is, more sensibility on one side than on the other, and signally so on the left ; the same fact obtained with regard to motility."
- 4 Lateral thinking; the process of approaching a subject from multiple sides, or an instance of this process. countable, uncountable
"The point of lateralism is to strike a compromise between what will sell and what ought to be explored."
Example
More examples"Thus, career ladders existed in the industry as a whole, not in the Royal Court itself, which contributed to a sense of lateralism rather than hierarchy in the hotel. Lateralism was also reflected in the Royal Court's minimal specialization, largely because of its size."
Etymology
From lateral + -ism.
Related phrases
More for "lateralism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.