alter English · revision 10285

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=fro alterer|origins=la alterare|origins=la alter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɒl.tə/, /ˈɔːl.tə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɔl.təɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English alteren, [[bor|fro|altérer|t=to change]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Medieval and Late Latin alterāre, to change, from Latin [[m|la|alter|t=the other of two]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which is from PIE *al-, beyond (as in [[else]] and alias), with the contrastive suffix -ter, as in [[other]] and [[whether]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make something different in some respect: about 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Chaucer's ''Troilus and Criseyde'' in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To disturb someone mentally (1542) is obsolete.^(OED 1989) The intransitive sense, to become otherwise, is recorded by the 1580s (1590 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) To geld or spay an animal is from 1821, in the United States and Australia,^(OED 1989) and to adjust a garment for a better fit is a later sense.^(AHD) ''Alteration'' is from before 1398.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – to change something.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1398 – alteration.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1542 – to disturb mentally.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – to become different.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1821 – to geld or spay.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To change or make different; to [[modify]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become different.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To adjust a garment so that it fits better.^(AHD)

+ # ''(chiefly US, euphemistic)'' To [[castrate]] or spay an animal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alterability]]

+ * [[alterable]]

+ * [[alterably]]

+ * [[alterer]]

+ * [[unaltering]]

+ * [[prealter]]

+ * [[realter]]

+ * [[alterative]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alteration]]

+ * [[alternate]]

+ * [[alternative]]

+ * [[alterant]]

+ * [[altruism]]

+ * [[alias]]

+ * [[else]]

+ * [[other]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Berkshire and Somerset dialect, to alter meant to change for the better, to improve in health or condition.^(Wright 1898) Alter as a noun, the other person in a social interaction, is a term of psychology from 1897.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}