alternatif

Forms

alternatif (feminine alternative, masculine plural alternatifs, feminine plural alternatives)^[1]

Etymology

The TLFi takes it as a learned formation on the stem of the supine of Latin alternō (“to do by turns”), with the suffix -if, and the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert agree.^[2][3][4] Rey suggests it may have been borrowed from Medieval Latin, and Wiktionary gives it as borrowed from Medieval Latin alternātīvus, which Rey dates to the 12th century.^[5][1] The Latin verb comes from alternus (“alternate”), from alter (“other”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1375 in Raoul de Presles's translation of the City of God, meaning “coming by turns”: Plato thinks that the living come from the dead and the dead from the living par foys alternatives “alternately”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In law it was used from the early 15th century of a right or office held in turn (1403), and as a noun it briefly meant a substitute (1535).^[2][5] Logic gave the proposition alternative (1718), stating two possibilities of which only one is true.^[2][5] Mechanics used it for a back-and-forth movement, agriculture for crop rotation (culture alternative, 1776), botany from 1822, and electricity for courant alternatif (1843), opposed to direct current.^[5][4]

In the 20th century, under the influence of English, it came to mean “offering another choice”, a use some criticize: a replacement solution or a practice outside the mainstream, as in médecine alternative or rock alternatif.^[5][4][7]

Timeline

• 1375 – Raoul de Presles writes par foys alternatives.^[2][5]
• 1401 – The phrase par alternative and the noun alternative appear in church law.^[6][5]
• 1403 – Used of a right exercised in turn.^[2]
• 1535 – Used as a noun for a substitute.^[5]
• 1718 – The Académie records proposition alternative.^[2]
• 1776 – Culture alternative is recorded.^[5]
• 1843 – Courant alternatif is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Coming in turn, alternating, periodic: une présidence alternative, held by different people in turn.^[4][2][8]
2. Mouvement alternatif: a regular back-and-forth motion, as of a piston or a pendulum.^[4][7]
3. (electricity) Courant alternatif: alternating current, opposed to courant continu.^[4][7][8]
4. (logic) Stating two possibilities of which only one is true;^[4][9][8] (law) obligation alternative, an obligation the debtor may discharge in one of two ways.^[4][9][8]
5. (criticized) Offering an alternative to the established or dominant way: médecine alternative, rock alternatif.^[4][7]

Word family

• alternativement
• alternative
• alternateur

Related words

• alterner
• alterne
• alternance
• Latin alternus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette