Done by one side alone, when more than one side is involved in the situation — and, importantly, without asking or agreeing with the others. A unilateral decision is one you made by yourself about something that affects other people too. A unilateral ceasefire is when one army stops shooting whether or not the other one does.

Done by one side alone只由一方做出, when more than one side is involved in the situation雖然情況裡牽涉到不只一方 — and而且重要的是, importantly without asking or agreeing with the others沒有詢問或徵得其他方的同意。 A unilateral decision is one you made by yourself about something that affects other people too一個 unilateral decision（單方面的決定）就是你自己做的決定，卻也影響到其他人。 A unilateral ceasefire is when one army stops shooting whether or not the other one doesA unilateral ceasefire（單方面停火）指的是一方停止開火，不管另一方有沒有跟著停。

This is a word from news and politics: unilateral action, a unilateral withdrawal, a unilateral decision to raise prices. It sits in a small family with bilateral (two sides, both agreeing — a bilateral trade deal) and multilateral (many sides together).

This is a word from news and politics這是新聞和政治用字: unilateral action, a unilateral withdrawal, a unilateral decision to raise prices像 unilateral action（單方面行動）、a unilateral withdrawal（單方面撤軍/退出）、a unilateral decision to raise prices（單方面決定漲價）。 It sits in a small family with它跟這幾個字算是一家人： bilateral (two sides, both agreeing — a bilateral trade deal)bilateral（雙邊的，雙方都同意，像 a bilateral trade deal 雙邊貿易協定） and和 multilateral (many sides together)multilateral（多邊的，很多方一起）。

Watch the tone. Unilateral is officially neutral — it only describes how many sides acted — but in practice it usually carries a frown. When a reporter says a country acted unilaterally, they are often hinting that it ignored its partners, or that it was arrogant. If the speaker approves, they are more likely to say decisive or independent.

Watch the tone要注意語氣。 Unilateral is officially neutralUnilateral 表面上是中性詞 — it only describes how many sides acted它只描述有幾方採取行動 — but而 in practice it usually carries a frown實際上講出來常常帶著皺眉的意味。 When a reporter says a country acted unilaterally當記者說一個國家 acted unilaterally（單方面行動）, they are often hinting that it ignored its partners, or that it was arrogant他們通常是在暗示這國家不理會夥伴，或是很自大。 If the speaker approves如果講的人是贊同的, they are more likely to say decisive or independent他們比較可能會說 decisive（果斷的）或 independent（獨立自主的）。

It also appears in medicine with a plainer meaning: on one side of the body only, as in unilateral hearing loss — deafness in just one ear. No criticism there at all.

It also appears in medicine with a plainer meaning它在醫學上也有比較單純的意思: on one side of the body only指身體只有一側, as in unilateral hearing loss像 unilateral hearing loss（單側聽力喪失） — deafness in just one ear也就是只有一隻耳朵失聰。 No criticism there at all這裡完全沒有貶意。