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alternate

al·ter·nate

UK/ˈɒl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪt/ US/ˈɔːl.tə(ɹ)ˌneɪt/ fairly common us
adjective (4) verb (5) noun (1)

adjective

1.

every second one of a series

  • “the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays”
  • “jam every other day” the White Queen
Similar
2.

allowing a choice

  • “an alternative plan”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

occurring by turns; first one and then the other

  • “alternating feelings of love and hate”
Synonyms
Similar
4.

of leaves and branches etc; first on one side and then on the other in two ranks along an axis; not paired

  • “stems with alternate leaves”
Antonyms

verb

1.

go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions

Synonyms
2.

exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions

3.

be an understudy or alternate for a role

Synonyms
4.
5.

do something in turns

  • “We take turns on the night shift”
Synonyms

noun

1.

someone who takes the place of another person

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • alternate action
  • alternate aerodrome
  • alternate allegation
  • alternate angles
  • alternate energy
  • alternate generation
  • alternate history
  • alternate juror
  • alternating caps
  • alternating case
  • alternating function
  • alternating group

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.