alternate
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alternate
- /ɒlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ UK
- /ɔːlˈtɜː(ɹ).nət/ UK
- /ˈɔl.tɚ.nət/ US
- /ˈɑl.tɚ.nət/ US
- /ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪt/ UK
- /ˈɔːl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪt/ UK
- /ˈɔl.tɚ.neɪt/ US
- /ˈɑl.tɚ.neɪt/ US
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin alternātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin alternō (“to take turns”) (see -ate (1,2 and 3)), from alternus (“one after another, by turns”), from alter (“other”) + -nus. Doublet of altern; see also alter.
adjective
- Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly). And bid alternate passions fall and rise
- Alternating; (of e.g. a pair of tinctures which a charge is coloured) succeeding in turns, or (relative to the field) counterchanged. Goldschmidt (Austria; creation July 27, 1862): [...] party, argent and gules, an eagle of alternate colors, [...]
- Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second. the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
- Other; alternative. Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.
- Distributed singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence Many trees have alternate leaf arrangement (e.g. birch, oak and mulberry).
noun alternates
- That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. Grateful alternates of substantial peace.
- A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty. An alternate for the first-string quarterback played the entire first half.
- A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.
- A replacement of equal or greater value or function.
verb alternates · alternating · alternated
- To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil.
- To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with. The flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.
- To vary by turns. The land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.
- To perform an alternation (removal of alternate vertices) on (a polytope or tessellation); to remove vertices (from a face or edge) as part of an alternation. This case suggests that the alternation of a polyhedron should be bounded by actual vertex figures and alternated faces. The case of the cube is in agreement with this notion, since the alternated square is nothing.
Similar: seesaw, alternate, interchange
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: take turns, cyclical, secondary, interchange, every other, cyclic, alternative, replacement, surrogate, flip-flop, flip, understudy, switch, jump, variant, several
verb
Similar: seesaw, alternate, interchange
Translations
Every language
adj being or succeeding by turns
| Español | alterno |
|---|---|
| Português | alternado, alternante |
| Deutsch | alternierend, wechselnd, abwechselnd, Wechsel- |
| Italiano | alterno, alternato |
adj mathematics: designating the members in a series
| Deutsch | jeweils anderer, jeweils andere, jeweils anderes |
|---|
adj other; alternative
| Español | alterno |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | वैकल्पिक vaikalpik |
| Português | alternativo |
| Français | alternatif, alternative |
| Deutsch | alternativ, abgeändert, andersartig, anderer, andere, anderes |
adj botany: distributed, as leaves
| Deutsch | wechselständig |
|---|
noun substitute
| Español | sustituta, sustituto |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | विकल्प vikalp |
| Português | substituto, substituta |
verb to perform by turns
| Español | alternar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 交替する kōtai suru |
| Português | alternar |
| Deutsch | alternieren |
verb to happen, succeed, or act by turns
| Español | alternar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 交替する kōtai suru |
| Português | alternar |
| Deutsch | abwechseln, alternieren |
verb to vary by turns
| Português | alternar |
|---|---|
| Français | alterner |
| Deutsch | wechseln zwischen, alternieren |
Talk about this word "alternate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/alternate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. alternate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/alternate "alternate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/alternate.Cite this
@misc{alternate_2026,
title = {alternate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/alternate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
