alternate English · revision 7628

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1513|origins=la alterno}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɒlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/, /ɔːlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɔl.tɚ.nət/, /ˈɑl.tɚ.nət/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|alternatus|t=done by turns]], the past participle of [[m|la|alterno|alt=alternāre|t=to do by turns, exchange]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from alternus, every other, from [[m|la|alter|t=the other]] (see [[alter]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Following by turns: 1513, in Sir Thomas More's ''History of King Richard III''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart notes that ''alternately'' (1432) and ''alternation'' (1443) appear decades before alternate.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to do by turns, is from 1599 (the 1590s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) replacing Middle English alternen;^(Etymonline) to follow one another is from about 1700, to pass back and forth between states by 1823, and to interchange from 1850.^(Etymonline) The noun, that which alternates, is from 1718, in Pope's ''Iliad'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a substitute, especially in political bodies, from 1848.^(Etymonline) Of leaves arranged singly at each node it is a botanical sense.^(AHD) As a noun it can also mean an alternative,^(AHD) a use that Wiktionary describes as mainly American.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1432 – alternately.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1513 – the adjective.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1599 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1718 – the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1848 – a substitute.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To happen or follow in turns: ''day and night alternate''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pass back and forth between two states or actions.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To do or arrange by turns.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of an electric current, to reverse direction regularly.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Happening by turns; every other one in a series.^(AHD)

+ # Serving in place of another; [[substitute]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(botany)'' Of leaves, arranged singly at each node.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who acts in place of another; a substitute.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alternately]]

+ * [[alternateness]]

+ * [[alternatingly]]

+ * [[subalternate]]

+ * [[unalternated]]

+ * [[alternator]]

+ * [[nonalternating]]

+ * [[unalternating]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alternation]]

+ * [[alternative]]

+ * [[alter]]

+ * [[altercation]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Etymonline notes the traditional distinction: alternate means by turns, alternative means offering a choice, though both imply two things.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}