alternateadj.adv.n.
/ɔːlˈtəːnᵻt/, /ɒlˈtəːnᵻt/, U.S. /ˈɔltərnət/, /ˈɑltərnət/ A. adj.
I. Senses relating to alternation.† 3. That is the other of two. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. Of two (occasionally more) different or distinct kinds of things: occurring one after the other; alternating.
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the world > time > change > alternation > [adjective]
every other1389
alternatea1535
alternative1540
alternal1576
altern1636
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > other specific arrangements > [adjective] > alternate or staggered
alternatea1535
staggered1875
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 70/2 Alternate proofe, as wel of prosperitie as aduers fortune.
1629 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Eight Bks. Peloponnesian Warre iii. 198 The Fight for a good while, was nothing but alternate chase and retreate.
1648 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple (ed. 2) 49 Alternate shreds of light Sordidly shifting hands with shades and night.
a1704 T. Brown Satyr against Woman in Wks. (1707) I. i. 83 Alternate Smiles and Frowns both insincere.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 12 The most opposite passions..mix with each other in the mind; alternate contempt and indignation; alternate laughter and tears; alternate scorn and horror. View more context for this quotation
1817 H. Corp Cœlebs Deceived I. i. 4 Two years..spent chiefly in the alternate employments of reading, walking, and playing with my young Cousin.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xix. 315 Walls, built of alternate layers of stone and timbers.
1930 Times 26 Mar. 25/6 2,200 acres are either bud-grafted or alternate rows of bud-grafts and selected seedlings.
1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond xv. 180 The night wore on, in alternate riding and resting.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts xiv. 220/1 Ticking , a type of drill cloth with alternate stripes of white and colored yarn.
b. Of things of the same kind in two (occasionally more) sets: each member of one set of which occurring after a member of the other set; taken or occurring alternately.
ΚΠ
a1681 R. Allestree Vanity of Creature (1684) 7 The Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, had each of them their several and alternate days of Lordship over this Nation.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Of Pythagorean Philos. in Fables 526 Th' Hyæna shows it, of a double kind, Varying the Sexes in alternate Years, In one begets, and in another bears.
1713 A. Pope Ess. Crit. (ed. 2) 19 Hear how..Timotheus' various Lays surprize, And bid Alternate Passions fall and rise!
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iv. 146 Alternate victors bid their gibbets rise.
1858 W. E. Gladstone Stud. Homer I. 134 Castor and Pollux..revisited the earth in some mysterious manner on alternate days.
1937 P. Harvey Oxf. Compan. Classical Lit. 99 The chorus was frequently divided into two semi-choruses, who sang alternate stanzas.
1974 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 336 268 Positive and negative particles are distributed on alternate squares of a chequered pattern.
1993 J. Merrill Different Person ix. 104 To Claude and me, on alternate days, came Quinta..who kept our modest lodgings as if they were palace apartments.
2. Of things of the same kind occurring along the course of an axial line: situated first on one side and then on the other; alternately placed.
a. Geometry. Of two angles: formed by a line that cuts two other lines, and lying on opposite sides of the cutting line (and, usually, also on opposite sides of the lines cut); designating an angle of this type. Frequently in alternate angle.
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1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 37 If a right line falling vpon two right lines, do make the alternate angles equall the one to the other: those two right lines are parallels the one to the other.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. 139 If there be drawn by the Vertex of the plain Triangle ABC (figure 5.) a Parallel to any of the sides, as to AB, the Angles A and B will be equal to their alternate Angles E & F.
1784 W. Nicholson Navigator's Assistant i. ii. iii. 28 The angle EGD is equal to its alternate angle FHA.
1827 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) I. 293 When a line intersects two parallel lines, it makes the alternate angles equal to each other.
1903 J. McMahon Elem. Plane Geom. i. 56 Neither alternate angle is greater than the other; hence the alternate angles are equal.
1998 J. L. Heilbron Geom. Civilized ii. 58 We therefore have a transversal cutting two lines so that the alternate internal angles are equal.
b. Botany. Of leaves or leaflets: occurring alternately on opposite sides of a stem or axis, with one only at each node. Opposed to opposite.
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the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [adjective] > alternating or not alternating
alternate1716
superposed1833
the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [adjective] > situated at the side > alternately placed on either side
alternate1716
staggered1875
1716 Philos. Trans. 1714–16 (Royal Soc.) 29 355 These Leaves are round, somewhat bristle-edged, grow alternate and saddle the Stalk.
1772 Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 375 Some of the stalks..have their leaves singly at the joints, alternate.
1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 22 Jan. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1990) VI. 228 These alternate leaves..assume the tongue like form.
1905 C. S. Sargent Man. Trees N. Amer. 587 Ptelea... Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, punctate with pellucid dots.
1992 W. T. Parsons & E. G. Cuthbertson Noxious Weeds Austral. 534 (table) Family Papaveraceae... Mainly herbaceous species with alternate, divided leaves without stipules.
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the world > time > change > exchange > [adjective] > exchanged
interchanged1567
alternate1589
countercambiate1632
counterchanged1861
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F3v As if..Bacchus, forsaking his heauen borne Deitie, shoulde delude our eyes with the alternate forme of his infancie.
4. Reciprocal, mutual; performed in turn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective] > mutual or reciprocal
evena1425
interchangeablec1450
relativea1500
reciprocativea1504
mutual1513
reciproque?1533
reciprocous1567
requiteda1586
intermutual1595
alternate1600
commutual1604
vicissitudinary1629
reciprocal1632
reflexivea1635
reciprocated1663
related1671
mutuous1683
turn about1802
interdependent1817
interrelated1827
reciprocating1827
reciprocate1833
transmutuala1834
reflective1839
interpendent1855
interradiating1858
two-way1950
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxiii. 492 In this alternate and interchangeable feare on both sides [L. in hoc alterno pauore], there passed some bickerments.
1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 576 Mutual offices, and a generous strife in Alternate Acts of Kindness.
1737 P. Rolli Sabrina i. ii. 14 The true delight..Which from alternate love does grow.
1790 R. Gray Key Old Test. & Apocrypha 271 The practice of psalm-singing..is derived, probably, from the ancient alternate chanting of the Jews.
1829 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. ii. xiii. §104. 53 These [motions] may be divided into continued and alternate, or reciprocating.
1832 Compar. Coincidence Reason & Script. I. vii. 256 This alternate performance of their sacred duties..was designed to represent the alternate ministrations of angelic priests.
1995 K. E. Gade Structure of Old Norse Dróttkvætt Poetry i. 25 Dróttkvætt stanzas were performed by two singers, in the manner of alternate singing.
5. Consisting of or characterized by alternating elements.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [adjective] > belonging to a series > constituted by alternate members
alternate1650
alternating1776
1650 W. Davenant Pref. to Gondibert 45 Nor does alternate Rime..make the sound lesse Heroick.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck Proem. i. 3 Alternate change of climates has he known.
1783 G. Crabbe Village i. 2 No shepherds now in smooth alternate verse, Their country's beauty or their nymphs' rehearse.
1834 Sat. Mag. May 214/1 On each angle below the springing of the crockets, is a lion, a dragon, and a greyhound, in alternate arrangement.
1867 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 15 94 An alternate sequence of free and parasitic generations.
1944 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 75 52 Here in alternate verse two groups defend certain ideas and give their opinions.
1997 U. Mengali & A. N. D'Andrea Synchronization Techniques for Digital Receivers ii. 58 We expect that an alternate pattern (..,+1,–1,+1,..) is very suitable for clock recovery.
6. Every other, every second (of a sequence).
a. Modifying a singular noun, in every (also each) alternate ——.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [adjective] > belonging to a series > every other/every second
every other1389
each other?c1450
every (also each) alternate ——1658
1658 J. Quarles Hist. Most Vile Dimagoras 25 The sensless rocks at each alternate groan Did seem to Sympathize, and sadly moan.
1765 J. W. Baker Exper. in Agric. 1764 11 I drove the Carrs up every alternate Ridge.
1790 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 2 ii. §ii. iii. 76 Pure trochaic or iambic verses, where every alternate syllable is prosodically long, and the others are short, occur but rarely in their works.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 538 In every pier, between windows and other apertures, every alternate jamb-stone ought to go through the wall with its bed perfectly level.
1869 Mainland Guardian (New Westminster, Brit. Columbia) 25 Sept. 2/1 The Oleys or Hones appear every alternate year; they are known as the Humpback salmon.
1898 A. B. Gomme Trad. Games II. 399 (heading) They unclasp hands at the end of each alternate verse, and suit their actions to the words sung.
1968 W. Bray Everyday Life of Aztecs vii. 144 This passage is easy to achieve by means of a roller or shed-rod inserted across the warp under every alternate thread.
1999 P. Mishra Romantics (2001) i. i. 10 I had gone to eat with them—as I did each alternate day.
2008 Northern District Times (Austral.) (Nexis) 27 Aug. 26 Lauriston was the venue for Miss Irex Gorrie's ballroom dancing studio, where lessons were given and a public dance held every alternate Saturday night.
b. Modifying a plural noun.
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1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 52 Both these unhappy Soils the Swain forbears, And keeps a Sabbath of alternate Years [L. Alternis idem tonsas cessare noualis] . View more context for this quotation
1751 G. Cleghorn Observ. Epidemical Dis. Minorca iii. 136 A new attack is begun on the alternate Days, or every third Day, if we include the Day on which the genuine Paroxysms happen.
1792 E. Waring On Princ. Algebraic Quantities 14 The chance of the event (A) happening an even number to its happening an odd number of times, will be the sum of all the alternate terms to each other.
1824 Mechanics' Mag. 30 Oct. 93/1 All the alternate bars of the series were now heated at once by lamps.
1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 177 The fact that the hump-back salmon runs only on alternate years in Puget sound..is well attested.
1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet iii. ii. 190 The boarding-house at the other end of his run where he spent the alternate nights.
1962 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 27 161/2 The H values presented in alternate columns indicate how much the observed values in a cell exceed or fall short of chance expectation.
1998 Pot Black Mag. Feb. 28/1 We all hope that the event will get sufficiently big to put on in the USA in alternate years.
II. Senses equating to alternative adj. Chiefly North American.
7. = alternative adj. 3a.
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the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [adjective] > stating or offering two choices > of two things of which one may be chosen
alternativec1659
alternate1766
1766 J. Burrow Rep. Court King's Bench 1 320 An alternate Way of traversing a corrupt Agreement.
1837 G. Phillips Syriac Gram. 25 Whenever the noun in its primitive form receives a syllabic augment, the alternate form is used.
1874 Cornhill Mag. July 39 An alternate evening diversion to music, cards, or tea?
1948 R. C. Smith in H. Becker Family Marriage & Parenthood xx. 608 The alternate course of bringing children up with no reference to or practice of religion in the home is one involving even greater risks.
1962 Amer. Speech 37 109 Only the PDAE records [m̩], and this as an alternate end to four words.
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 Apr. 13/1 They can follow alternate forms of universalism, such as communism or Islamism.
8. = alternative adj. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > [adjective] > only in imagination or unreal
imaginary?1510
imaginative1517
rational1530
fantastical1531
fantasied1561
airy1565
fancied1568
legendary1570
dreamed1597
fabled1606
ideal1611
fictive1612
affectual1614
insubstantiala1616
imaginatorya1618
supposititious1620
fictitious1621
utopian1624
utopic1624
notional1629
affective1633
fictiousa1644
notionary1646
figmental1655
suppositious1655
fict1677
visionary1725
metaphysical1728
unrealized1767
fancy1801
nice-spun1801
subjective1815
aerial1829
transcendental1835
cardboardy1863
mythical1870
cardboard1879
fictionary1882
figmentary1887
alternative1939
alternate1944
fantasized1964
ideate1966
fanciful-
fantastic-
1944 Astounding Sci.-Fiction Sept. 61/1 I am visiting the alternate worlds in search of one that has learned how to do away with the horrid scourge of war.
1950 Thrilling Wonder Stories Oct. 27/1 The twin world exists because any definitive explanation of reality presupposes alternate realities.
1964 Shangri-L'Affaires May–June 20 Have you ever had the sneaking suspicion that..there really is an alternate universe to the one we know?
1983 D. Duane So you want to be Wizard? 25 She read through a list of the ‘otherworlds’ closest to her own, alternate earths where the capital of the United States was named Huictilopochtli.
2007 Wired June 50/2 Alternate reality games, or ARGs, play out like elaborate scavenger hunts.
9. = alternative adj. 5.
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the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > [adjective] > deviating from rule or standard
exorbitant1534
unorthodox1629
aberrant1778
aberrated1786
divergent1801
radical1869
nonstandard1870
non-regular1896
non-regulation1953
non-conformant1960
alternative1962
sideways1969
alternate1970
marginala1988
alt1988
1970 N.Y. Times 15 Mar. 128 Within their one-to-one relationships with their men, the women felt, the highly touted ‘alternate life style’ of the radical movement was working out no better than the ‘bourgeois’ life style they had rejected.
1976 Collier's Encycl. Year Bk. 544 The so-called alternate theatre made a tremendous contribution to the variety of the season.
1981 G. Daniel Short Hist. Archaeol. iv. 151 The examples..show the dangers of what is politely called..‘alternate’ archaeology.
1987 Today's Health Apr.–May 52/1 An alternate therapy for ulcers caused by NSAIDs is a combination of an H2 receptor antagonist and sucralfate.
2005 Daily Tel. 21 Apr. 34/3 It will be more than a decade before alternate technologies such as hybrid vehicles..have a notable impact on petrol consumption.
B. adv.
poetic. One after the other, in turns; alternately. Now rare.
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the world > time > change > alternation > [adverb]
changeablyc1384
alternately1432
interchangeably1483
handy-dandya1529
time about1537
by course1548
at (by) intervals1588
alternatively1591
reciprocally1603
by reprises1607
alternally1627
alterably1635
altern1667
alternate1715
by vicissitudes1749
alternatingly1845
1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 41 Or wane and wax alternate like the Moon.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck i. 9 Egyptian, Thracian gales alternate play.
1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. x. 87 Massive arches broad and round, That rose alternate, row and row.
1838 F. S. L. Osgood Wreath Wild Flowers from New Eng. 81 Beshrew these lovely witches!.. They've haunted me all night, and even now Alternate glide before my spell-bound eyes!
1903 ‘M. Field’ Julia Domna ii. 33 The little statue Of Victory, placed in your brother's chamber, I lay alternate in your own.
1941 G. Taggard Long View 4 Death and life both alternate hold The new, the arriving Change.
C. n.
1. One or the other of two things; an alternative, a choice. Now chiefly North American.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > [noun] > that which alternates
alternate1717
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [noun] > choosing between alternatives > a choice of alternatives > remaining alternative when one is ruled out
alternative1705
alternate1717
1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. ix. 533 My Fates long since by Thetis were disclos'd, And each alternate, Life or Fame propos'd.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vi. ⁋106. 498 The King having done all that was possible..about Alliances, and claimed the Alternate.
1818 J. Lawless Belfast Politics Enlarged 147 We are driven upon independence, as ‘a measure of necessity’. The alternate is legislative independence or ruin.
1878 F. de Y. Carpenter Geogr. Surv. 64 He will select another in the same vicinity, and consider that as an alternate to the first.
1915 L. M. Phillipps Form of Colour iv. 70 On the completion of Santa Sophia an alternate confronted the Byzantine architects.
1962 J. Glenn in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 37 In the interests of safety all the major systems had to be studded with alternates or stand-by components.
2007 Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) (Nexis) 24 Mar. v18 An alternate to digging a diamond in Arkansas is to have one made by the LifeGem Company of Chicago.
2. Chiefly North American. Originally: a person appointed to stand in for a delegate at a convention. In later use more generally: a person who acts or is available to act as a substitute or stand-in for another.
ΚΠ
1812 Extracts Minutes Gen. Assembly Presbyterian Church 3 8 The Rev. John P. Campbell, the Rev. Amzi Armstrong, and the Rev. George C. Potts, as the alternate of either of them, were duly elected delegates to attend the General Association of Massachusetts.
1895 Denver Times 5 Mar. 2/7 Each precinct is entitled to delegates and alternates as follows.
1916 Christian Sci. Monitor 5 June 1/4 Butler Ames.., the Governor's alternate, will represent the Governor in the convention..until the Governor's arrival.
1960 Times 19 Oct. 15/4 It is normal for a company's articles of association to allow a director to appoint an alternate to act for him.
1977 Transatlantic Rev. No. 60. 130 Elwood was king at our Halloween Carnival. I was alternate in case he got sick. He didn't.
2005 D. Brown Not exactly Normal 225 I was chosen as our class's first alternate—which is good except, to be honest, all first alternate means is that you only get to play if someone drops out.
3. A person who alternates with another in performing the duties of a particular position, role, or office.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > [noun] > a substitute > in work or sport
relief1709
substitute1826
sub1864
alternate1898
pinch-hitter1899
1898 Westm. Gaz. 21 Apr. 4/3 When sitting at our Board as an alternate in London for Mr. Rhodes.
1948 Denton (Texas) Record-Chron. 25 Apr. 7/3 Dowell Dennard..and Marvin Solley..are alternates for the role of Escamillo.
1980 D. Page Drew's Blues xix. 183 Della Resse, backed by a big band, was one of two alternates playing there.
1999 B. Brewster & F. Broughton Last Night DJ saved my Life vi. 138 He'd been playing for two weeks straight and his alternate hadn't showed.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > element of > base > altern base
altern base1630
alternate base1631
1631 R. Norwood Trigonometrie i. 33 As the difference of the true and alternate base being 90 paces, the half therefore is EB 45 paces..serving to find the angle at ℰ.
1785 C. Hutton Math. Tables 27 Napier here teaches also some new theorems in spherical trigonometry, particularly that the tangent of the base : tang. ½ sum legs : : tang. ½ dif. legs : tang. ½ the alternate base.
1826 T. Keith Introd. Theory & Pract. Plain & Spherical Trig. (ed. 5) iii. iv. 179 The distance of a perpendicular from the middle of the base, or as some writers call it the altern, or alternate base, is always equal to half the difference of the segments of the base, when the perpendicular falls within the triangle.
alternate current n. an alternating current (see alternating adj. 2b).
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > alternating current > [noun]
alternating current1833
alternate current1846
1846 Encycl. Americana (ed. 8) XIV. 423/2 A magneto-electrical machine, which will produce a rapid succession of alternate currents.
1906 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 783/1 Another class of transformers..are used in the transformation of alternate currents to continuous currents.
1983 Lat. Amer. Res. Rev. 19 93 Most of the power..will be transmitted in the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) and put into alternate current with a frequency of sixty cycles before distribution.
alternate-day adj. designating a medication administered every other day, or this schedule of administration; (also) that receives medication in this way.
ΚΠ
1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 22 Feb. 405/1 Administration of a single dose of an adrenal steroid every 48 hours, termed alternate-day steroid therapy, offers certain advantages over conventional programs of corticosteroid treatment.
1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 18 Apr. 915/2 The rise in plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroid in the alternate-day patients equalled a control group and exceeded that of the daily-therapy group.
1977 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 77 643/1 Preliminary studies suggest that these complications may be minimized by the use of alternate-day steroids.
2002 Internal Med. News (Nexis) 15 Oct. 54 Patients in the placebo and alternate-day groups had no significant change in cholesterol levels.
alternate generation n. Biology each of the two distinct forms which succeed one another in the life cycle of an organism which undergoes alternation of generations; (also) the occurrence of such a succession of forms (= alternation of generations n. at alternation n. Phrases).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > types of reproduction > [noun] > alternate generation
alternate generation1841
alternation of generations1845
metagenesis1849
heterogenesis1863
heterogamy1884
heterogeny1886
heterogony1906
1841 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom xxi. 374 The alternate generations are quite dissimilar both in conformation and habits.
1858 G. H. Lewes Sea-side Stud. 293 The doctrine of Alternate generations has been persistently denied.
1912 New Phytologist 11 216 The appearance of a free-living spore-bearing alternate generation.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands iv. 59 As with the oak apple there is an alternate generation. This is reared from tiny inconspicuous galls attached to oak catkins.
2002 C. de Duve Life Evolving xi. 164 Evolution has composed many variations on the basic theme of alternate generation.
alternate-leaved adj. [after scientific Latin alternifolius: see alterni- comb. form] Botany having or characterized by alternate leaves.
ΚΠ
1756 J. Hill Brit. Herbal iv. 63/1 Alternate-leaved centaury.
1806 B. M'Mahon Amer. Gardener's Cal. 590 Hardy Deciduous Trees and Shrubs... Cornus alternifolia. Alternate-leaved Dogwood.
1931 W. Trelease Winter Bot. (ed. 3) p. ix Caution should be observed with all alternate-leaved shrubs until the poisonous species of Rhus have become known.
1993 Guardian 9 Nov. i. 21/1 A colleague was waiting to guide us to the site of a small, rare fern—alternate-leaved spleenwort.
alternate-pinnate adj. [perhaps after French alternati-penné (1816); compare slightly earlier alternipinnate adj. at alterni- comb. form ] Botany having the pinnae or leaflets of a compound leaf alternate upon the midrib or petiole; (of leaf venation) consisting of a series of lateral branches arising alternately on each side of the midrib.
ΚΠ
1859 T. Moore Brit. Ferns I. 77 Venation of the pinnules consisting of a slightly flexuose midvein from which branch a series of alternate pinnate veins.
1908 N. L. Britton N. Amer. Trees 588 They have alternate pinnate leaves with numerous small alternate leaflets readily detachable from the leaf axis when dry.
1977 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 64 1273/2 Each pinna has three to four orders of alternate pinnate subdivisions which ultimately bear sporangia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [noun] > correspondence > inverting
alternate proportion1570
inversion1645
transposition1664
reversion1698
involution1916
1570 H. Billingsley in tr. Euclid Elements Geom. x. f. 306 Now let vs declare how as the line H F is to the line F E, so to make the line F K to the line E K. The line C D is greater then the line B D by supposition. Wherefore also the line H F is greater then the line F E (by alternate proportion).
1726 E. Stone New Math. Dict. Alternate proportion, or ratio, is the assuming of Antecedent to Antecedent, as the Consequent to the Consequent; as if A:B::C:D: then by Alternate Proportion will A:C::B:D.
1850 C. Davies Elem. Algebra 231 If we have the proportion 3:6::8:16 the alternate proportion would be 3:8::6:16.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
alternatev.
/ˈɔːltəneɪt/, /ˈɒltəneɪt/, U.S. /ˈɔltərˌneɪt/, /ˈɑltərˌneɪt/ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > direct [verb (transitive)] > reverse the direction of
reverse?a1439
return1483
to turn back1579
alternate1595
re-enverse1603
retrovert1637
obvert1646
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile xliii Yet may thy power alternat heauens doome.
2.
a. transitive. To arrange or perform (two different things or two sets of things) alternately; to do (a thing) in two ways alternately; to cause to occur in alternation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > alternate [verb (transitive)]
altern1447
entermetea1500
interchange1561
interpose1602
alternate1605
interplace1650
interleave1802
interleaf1900
1605 E. Sandys Relation of Relig. (new ed.) sig. Z Their Liturgy is much intermedled with singing..grave alternated, & branched with diuers parts.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 657 Who in thir course Melodious Hymns about the sovran Throne Alternate all night long. View more context for this quotation
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra iii. ii. §57 The most High God..alternates the Distribution of Good and Evil.
1795 J. Barlow Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 33 Private encouragement and public discountenance was alternated.
1832 T. Gordon Hist. Greek Revol. I. 45 They then alternated the syllables composing the Turkish word Hakykè, or justice.
1854 Brit. Jrnl. Homœopathy Oct. 680 Mr. Moore was in the habit of alternating medicines in cases of acute disease.
1916 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 27 418 The series for mechanical and for manual stimulation we divided into groups of ten, and alternated the groups..so as to equalize practice.
2004 Piecework Jan.–Feb. 43/2 The knitted sections typically alternated red and green or blue lice (regular dots) on a white ground.
b. transitive. To interchange (one thing) alternately with (occasionally by) another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > exchange, change for [verb (transitive)] > interchange
changec1300
interchangec1374
exchange1604
reciprocate1611
alternatea1711
counterchange1728
a1711 T. Ken Edmund xii, in Wks. (1721) II. 332 Short Sleeps, and watchful Care, Alternated with interspersed Prayer.
1787 Med. Comm. 2nd Decade 2 57 He has either joined it [sc. Peruvian bark] with an antimonial or neutral medicine, or alternated its use with these.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire IV. xxxviii. 317 The Envoys of Maroboduus were instructed to alternate a tone of respect and deference..with the boldest assertions of equality.
1859 M. A. Schimmelpenninck Princ. Beauty i. xi. 39 Always alternating an Active by a Passive style.
1908 M. Moore Let. 5 Apr. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 46 She..alternates flat compliments with crudities till you give up trying to make the compliments preponderate.
2000 N. Jans Tracks of Unseen 67 I ski on, alternating skating strides with double poling, concentrating on my breathing and the snow before me.
3.
a. intransitive. Of two or more things: to succeed each other by turns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > alternate [verb (intransitive)]
to change (by) stevens1398
interchange1483
alternate1700
alternize1804
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 81 Good after Ill, and after Pain, Delight; Alternate, like the Scenes of Day and Night.
1705 J. Philips Blenheim 15 Rage, Shame, and Grief, alternate in his Breast.
1850 T. T. Lynch Memorials Theophilus Trinal ii. 23 Great souls in whom dark and bright alternated.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xiv. 1 The fortunes of parties alternate.
1927 Variety 13 July 35/5 The four feminine principals alternated in ‘tease’ numbers with the help of the chorus.
1995 G. Vidal Palimpsest 94 We alternated as CQs (charge of quarters) to stoke the coals all night long in below-zero weather.
b. intransitive. Of one thing or person: to vary between two or more characteristics, conditions, etc., alternately; to move between doing or being different things by turns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > alternate [verb (intransitive)] > in two directions
alternate1791
1791 J. Bentham Panopticon 414 The condition of the prisoners alternates between the two opposite extremes: a state of absolute solitude during one part of the twenty-four hours: a state of promiscuous association in crowds during the remainder.
1806 Monthly Rev. Feb. 134 Internally its lustre alternates between glistening, glimmering, and dull.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby II. v. vii. 304 We alternate between a supercilious neglect of genius and a rhapsodical pursuit of quacks.
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iii. vii. 124 A land which alternates between plains of sand and dull ranges of monotonous hills.
1916 School Rev. 24 774 The treatment alternates between simple exposition and technical description.
1955 ‘J. Christopher’ Year of Comet i. 5 He knew her viewing habits... She alternated between three channels.
2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Apr. ii. 33/4 She alternates between power ballad and hip-hoppery.
c. intransitive. Of one thing or one class of things: to appear or occur alternately with another.
ΚΠ
1799 R. Kirwan Geol. Ess. 246 It alternates with unguilite..in Swisserland..and in Bavaria.
1833 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. Dec. 684/1 Thus does famine of intelligence alternate with waste.
1858 G. H. Lewes Sea-side Stud. 87 Alternating with these are placed others of similar structure.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 76 Those periods of decay..alternate with periods of regeneration.
1937 S. F. Armstrong Brit. Grasses (ed. 3) i. 6 The leaves are arranged in two rows..upon the stem, and alternate one with another.
1992 Economist 15 Feb. 53/3 Times of chill alternated with periods of detente.
4. intransitive. Of an electric current: to reverse direction at regular short intervals (many times a second), usually sinusoidally; (of a voltage) to reverse polarity similarly. Cf. alternating adj. 2b.
ΚΠ
1842 D. Davis Man. Magnetism §286 When the primary magneto-electric current is made to pass through water in a constant direction, the water is resolved into its elements... If the direction of the current alternates, the water is still decomposed.
1899 Proc. Royal Soc. 65 116 As the electric current alternated..the mantle was subjected on alternate sides to cathode ray bombardment.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 188/1 High-frequency condenser microphone, a condenser microphone in which the polarising voltage is alternating at a high radio-frequency.
1962 Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times 2 Sept. b4/3 Electric lights seem to flicker because the current alternates at 50 cycles a second; Canadians claim you don't notice the effect after a few days.
1998 A. Halpern & E. Erlback Schaum's Outl. Theory & Probl. Beginning Physics II. xi. 291 The current is alternating between positive and negative values at a frequency of f = ω/2π.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.adv.n.a1535v.1595- shedstick
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