alternate en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈɔl.tɚ.nət/ (US)
- (US) audio
- (Received-Pronunciation) audio
- /ɒlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ (UK)
- /ɔːlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ (UK)
- /ˈɑl.tɚ.nət/ (US)
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin alternātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin alternō (“to take turns”) (see -ate (1,2 and 3)), from alternus (“one after another, by turns”), from alter (“other”) + -nus. Doublet of altern; see also alter.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly).
And bid alternate passions fall and rise
1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:One of the two boxes displaced by the new Pelaw installation will be Springwell, between Boldon Colliery and Pelaw, which has recently had the distinction of being manned by a husband and wife on alternate shifts.
1960 September, “Talking of Trains: Newcastle signal area enlarged”, in Trains Illustrated, page 522:The service is half-hourly as far as Harrogate and Knaresborough, with alternate trains going on to York.
2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Arch Company Award for Urban Heritage: Knaresborough”, in RAIL, number 946, page 56:
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(not-comparable) Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly). ▸ Alternating; (of e.g. a pair of tinctures which a charge is coloured) succeeding in turns, or (relative to the field) counterchanged.
Goldschmidt (Austria; creation July 27, 1862): [...] party, argent and gules, an eagle of alternate colors, [...]
1925, The Jewish Encyclopedia: Chazars-Dreyfus Case, page 128:
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(not-comparable) Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second.
the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
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(US, not-comparable) Other; alternative.
He lives in an alternate universe and an alternate reality.
Let's take an alternate route to avoid the traffic jam.
Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.
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(not-comparable, of leaves) Distributed singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence
Many trees have alternate leaf arrangement (e.g. birch, oak and mulberry).
Deriveds
alternate plumage · alternateness · nonalternate · alternate action · alternate generation · alternate allegation · alternate reality game · alternate ring hitching · alternate juror · subalternate · alternate angles · alternate energy · alternate persona · alternately · alternate universe · alternate timeline · alternate aerodrome · alternate history
Relateds
Translations (54)
de anderes (other; alternative) · bg друг (other; alternative) · de abgeändert (other; alternative) · fi joka toinen (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · cs střídavý (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · sv växlande (being or succeeding by turns) · pl naprzemienny (being or succeeding by turns) · nl alternatief (other; alternative) · nb alternativ (other; alternative) · de wechselständig (botany: distributed, as leaves) · de jeweils anderer (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · hi वैकल्पिक (other; alternative) · es alterno (being or succeeding by turns) · da alternativ (other; alternative) · bg алтернативен (other; alternative) · fi vaihtoehto- (other; alternative) · pt alternativo (other; alternative) · fi vuorottainen (botany: distributed, as leaves) · es alterno (other; alternative) · pl alternować (being or succeeding by turns) · de andersartig (other; alternative) · cy bob yn ail (being or succeeding by turns) · pt alternado (being or succeeding by turns) · it alterno (being or succeeding by turns) · tr alternatif (other; alternative) · cs alternativní (other; alternative) · sv alternerande (being or succeeding by turns) · de abwechselnd (being or succeeding by turns) · sv varannan (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · fr alternatif (other; alternative) · de alternativ (other; alternative) · da hveranden (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · fi vuorotteleva (being or succeeding by turns) · fi vaihtoehtoinen (other; alternative) · de jeweils andere (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · de wechselnd (being or succeeding by turns) · cs střídavý (being or succeeding by turns) · de alternierend (being or succeeding by turns) · la alternus (being or succeeding by turns) · cs náhradní (other; alternative) · de Wechsel- (being or succeeding by turns) · pt alternante (being or succeeding by turns) · de anderer (other; alternative) · sv alternativ (other; alternative) · cy bob yn ail (botany: distributed, as leaves) · tr başka (other; alternative) · sv omväxlande (being or succeeding by turns) · fr alternative (other; alternative) · it alternato (being or succeeding by turns) · bg редуващ се (being or succeeding by turns) · de jeweils anderes (mathematics: designating the members in a series) · et vahelduv (being or succeeding by turns) · de andere (other; alternative) · tl salisi (mathematics: designating the members in a series)