alternative English · revision 3828

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1540|origins=la alter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɔːlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv/, US /ɔːlˈtɝː.nə.t̬ɪv/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|alternātīvus]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) or French alternatif,^(NODE 1998)^(COED 2004) from [[la|alternātus]], past participle of [[m|la|alternāre|t=to do by turns, interchange]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|alternus|t=one after the other, alternate]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|alter|t=the other (of two)]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD) Merriam-Webster takes it as formed from [[alternate]] and [[-ive]].^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[alter]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1540.^(MWU 2024) The adjective, “offering one or the other of two”, is from the 1580s in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1590 in the OED;^(OED 1989) its first sense was “alternating, alternate”, according to the New Oxford.^(NODE 1998)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun was first a term of rhetoric, a proposition of two statements of which accepting one means rejecting the other, from the 1620s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Of courses of action it is from 1814, and of the other of two things that may be chosen by 1836.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The meaning “purporting to be a better choice than what is generally used” was current by 1970, first in reference to the media,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) in popular music by 1984,^(Etymonline) and ''alternative energy'' is from 1975.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1540 – first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1590 – offering one of two.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1620s – noun, in rhetoric.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1814 – a course of action.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1836 – the other of two choices.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1970 – nonconventional.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1975 – ''alternative energy''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A choice between two or more possibilities.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # One of the things that can be chosen; an [[option]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Available as another possibility: ''an alternative route''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Existing outside traditional or established systems: ''alternative medicine''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Reflecting values different from those of the [[establishment]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alternatively]]

+ * [[alternativeness]]

+ * [[alternative energy]]

+ * [[alternative hypothesis]]

+ * [[alternative school]]

+ * [[alternative medicine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alternate]]

+ * [[alter]]

+ * [[alternation]]

+ * [[altercation]]

+ * [[altruism]]

+ * [[other]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Some traditionalists hold that alternative should be used only when there are exactly two choices, because of Latin alter “the other of two”,^(AHD) but Fowler, among others, called this restriction a fetish.^(AHD) The American Heritage usage panel was evenly divided on the point.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}