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

The event has evolved into a multidisciplinary cultural mélange, including ancient dramas, classical music, dynamic contemporary dance, and thought-provoking visual installations. —Helen Iatrou, AFAR Media, 29 May 2025

Cheyenne Sky Studio Taylor Cheyenne Martin, a Chickasaw and Seminole mother, wife, and multidisciplinary artist, grew up watching her mother and aunties trade sterling silver and turquoise earrings. —Anne Roderique-Jones, Travel + Leisure, 24 May 2025

For anyone unfamiliar, a tumor board is a multidisciplinary panel where specialists across the cancer continuum—medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, radiation oncologists, geneticists and sometimes ethicists—all come together to discuss complex patient cases. —Sanjay Juneja, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025

Upon receiving all of their results, the patient will meet with the multidisciplinary care team to determine a plan, which can include interventions such as changes to diet and exercise, medications, supplements and more. —Emily Burns, Footwear News, 20 May 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