Etymologically
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alteration

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɒl.tə(ɹ)ˈeɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ɔl.tɚˈeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English alteracioun,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman alteracion and alteration,[5][6][4] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin alterātiō (“change”),[5][6][4][7] from alterō (“to change”), a verb of Late Latin,[4][7] which is formed from alter (“the other (of two)”).[4] Etymonline derives the Latin word from Proto-Indo-European *al- (“beyond”) with the comparative suffix also seen in other.[4] In Anglo-Norman the noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, at first of a change of medicine;[8][5] the Latin noun is found in Boethius and is frequent in British sources from the 12th century.[5] The OED compares Old Occitan alteracio, Catalan alteració, Spanish alteración and Italian alterazione.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Change, transformation, as a term of philosophy, medicine and alchemy: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, which lists alteracioun among six kinds of motion.[2][5] The Middle English word could also mean a change for the worse or a change for the better, a cure.[2]

Semantic evolution

From before 1529, in Skelton, it meant a change in the character or appearance of a person or thing;[5] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1530s.[4] Two senses died out: in early music it was the lengthening, usually the doubling, of a note's value (about 1517 to 1609),[5][7] and, between 1533 and 1722, a disordered state of the body, a disease.[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of altering and the change made.[9] The tailoring sense, a change to the style or fit of a garment, is recorded from 1724;[5] Etymonline dates the altering of ready-made clothes for a customer to 1901.[4] In the dialects of West Yorkshire and Hampshire alteration meant a difference, and of the weather it meant changeable.[10]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – change, transformation.[5][2]
  • c. 1517 – in music, the doubling of a note's value (obsolete by 1609).[5]
  • before 1529 – a change in character or appearance.[5]
  • 1533 – a disorder of the body (obsolete by 1722).[5]
  • 1724 – a change made to a garment.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of altering something, or of being altered.[11][6][5]
  2. A change or modification made to something: The architect made several alterations to the plans.[11][6]
  3. A change in the character or appearance of a person or thing.[5][6]
  4. A change made to the style, size or fit of a garment.[5][4]
  5. (law) A change in a legal instrument that changes its legal effect.[6]
  6. (obsolete, c. 1517–1609) In early music, the lengthening, usually the doubling, of the value of a note.[5][7]

Word family

  • realteration

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins