alternate
UK /ɒlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ · US /ˈɔl.tɚ.nət/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms alternates alternating alternated
- adjective Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly).
- adjective (heraldry) Alternating; (of e.g. a pair of tinctures which a charge is coloured) succeeding in turns, or (relative to the field) counterchanged.
- adjective (mathematics) 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.”
- adjective (US) Other; alternative. “Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.”
- adjective (botany, 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).”
- noun That which alternates with something else; vicissitude.
- noun (US) A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty. “An alternate for the first-string quarterback played the entire first half.”
- noun (mathematics) A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.
- noun (US) A replacement of equal or greater value or function.
- verb (transitive) To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.
- verb (intransitive) To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with. “The flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.”
- verb (intransitive) To vary by turns. “The land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.”
- verb (transitive, geometry) To perform an alternation (removal of alternate vertices) on (a polytope or tessellation); to remove vertices (from a face or edge) as part of an alternation.
Synonyms
seesaw interchange surrogate replacement jump understudy tack switch flip flip-flop take turns alternative substitute alternating
Antonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal.
- adjective 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; as, the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. ; read every alternate line.
- noun That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. [R.]
- noun A substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.
Etymology [L. alternatus, p. p. of alternate, fr. alternus. See Altern, Alter.]
Etymology [L. alternatus, p. p. of alternare. See Altern.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “alternate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details