interdisciplinary

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˌɪntɜrˈdɪsəpləˌnɛriː/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Involving or combining two or more academic disciplines or fields of study in a collaborative or integrated manner.; Relating to or drawing upon knowledge, methods, or perspectives from multiple distinct areas of expertise to address complex problems.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: more interdisciplinary Superlative: most interdisciplinary

Collocations

interdisciplinary approachinterdisciplinary researchinterdisciplinary studiesinterdisciplinary teaminterdisciplinary collaborationinterdisciplinary field

Derivatives

interdisciplinarityinterdisciplinarily

Synonyms

cross-disciplinarymultidisciplinarytransdisciplinaryintegrative

Antonyms

unidisciplinary

Commonly confused

multidisciplinary
EN: 'Multidisciplinary' involves multiple disciplines working side by side but remaining distinct; 'interdisciplinary' implies integration and blending of methods across disciplines.
transdisciplinary
EN: 'Transdisciplinary' goes beyond disciplinary boundaries entirely, often incorporating non-academic knowledge; 'interdisciplinary' still operates within and between recognized academic disciplines.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the sequence 'inter-disciplin-ary': people often drop the 'i' after 'c' (writing 'interdiscplinary') or misspell the prefix as 'inter-' vs 'intra-'.

💬 Examples

  1. The university established an interdisciplinary research center combining biology, chemistry, and computer science.

  2. Climate change requires an interdisciplinary approach that integrates natural sciences, economics, and social policy.