multidisciplinary

adjective

mul·​ti·​dis·​ci·​plin·​ary ˌməl-tē-ˈdi-sə-plə-ˌner-ē 

-ˌtī-,

 especially British  -ˌdi-sə-ˈpli-nə-rē

: combining or involving more than one discipline or field of study : interdisciplinary

Treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach involving physicians, nutritionists, psychologists, trainers, and gynecologists …

—Michelle L. Cameron Donaldson

However, the task of interpreting such spectra … will take a multidisciplinary team of astrophysicists, Earth scientists, climate scientists, and biologists.

—Sarah Scoles

Indeed, nanotechnology may change the way we think about mechanical engineering altogether, making it a more multidisciplinary field, one as concerned with atomic-level effects as electrical engineering or chemistry is.

—Stephen L. Girshick and Arun Majumdar

Did you know?

A discipline is a field of study. So a multidisciplinary (or interdisciplinary) course is a team-taught course in which students are asked to understand a single subject as it's seen by two or more traditional disciplines. Multidisciplinary teaching can open students' eyes to different views of a subject that they had never considered before. A multidisciplinary panel discussion, on the other hand, presents views from scholars in different fields but may leave any merging of the information to the audience.

Examples of multidisciplinary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2026, the theater will get its first permanent home: a $40 million multidisciplinary performing arts center at Miramar, a new mixed-income residential building in Inwood. —Nancy A. Ruhling, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025

Marfa’s most recent collaboration is with the multidisciplinary artist Mickalene Thomas, whom Dant recently met at the Frieze art fair in Los Angeles, and who helped reimagine the Marfa Stance raincoat and rain hood using surplus materials from Dant’s arsenal. —Samantha Conti, WWD, 22 Feb. 2025

Jawara Alleyne Hailing from Jamaica, Jawara Alleyne is a multidisciplinary artist, creative director, and educator. —Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 17 Feb. 2025

Prada Mode Abu Dhabi will be developed in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Theaster Gates, with whom the Italian luxury brands has already collaborated twice on earlier versions of the event. —Martino Carrera, WWD, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for multidisciplinary

• cardiopulmonary
• interdisciplinary
• postrevolutionary
• prerevolutionary
• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• beriberi
• breviary