alternationn.

Brit.

/ˌɔːltəˈneɪʃn/,

/ˌɒltəˈneɪʃn/, U.S.

/ˌɔltərˈneɪʃ(ə)n/,

/ˌɑltərˈneɪʃ(ə)n/

Forms: late Middle English alternacioun, late Middle English–1500s alternacion, 1500s– alternation.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French alternation; Latin alternātiōn-, alternātiō.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman alternacioun and Middle French alternacion, alternation (French alternation ; now rare) alternate succession or occurrence (a1321 or earlier in Anglo-Norman in par alternacioun alternately, by turns), change (14th cent.; apparently not attested between 1611 and the mid 18th cent.) and its etymon classical Latin alternātiōn-, alternātiō alternate movement, ambivalence < alternāt- , past participial stem of alternāre (see alternate v.) + -iō -ion suffix¹. With the sense development compare alternate v.

a. The action or an instance of two things succeeding each other by turn; alternate succession or occurrence.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > alternation > [noun]

interchangingc1374

alternationc1443

alternement1483

interchange1559

intercourse1571

reciprocation1586

circulation1597

counterchange1602

interchangeableness1606

subalternation1616

vicissitude1624

alternity1646

alternacy1650

alternative1732

variegation1781

fluctuation1802

alternance1826

up and down1855

intermittence1860

c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 479 Come aȝen in an oþer while to contemplatijf lijf, and aftirward eftsoone come aȝen into such actijf lijf..if abilte and oportunyte be had forto make such alternaciouns or chaungis.

a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 51 (MED) Whan þe consolacion is taken awey, dispeire not..for ofte tymes in grete seintes..haþ ben þis maner of alternacion [L. alternationis].

1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) Alternation or chaunging one after an other.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Alternation, an alternation, a succession by turne.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 147 Hares may exchange their sex, yet..not in that vicissitude or annuall alternation as is presumed.

1707 J. Dunton Athenian Sport xcvi. 413/2 They have an Alternation of Joys and Sorrows.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 215 My spirits were exhausted by the alternation of pleasure and pain.

1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood xxi. 394 She behaved with strange alternations of dislike and passionate affection.

1880 H. James Benvolio i. 345 To take the helm in alternation.

1919 E. Scott All about Latest Dances 68 The true basis of the American Fox-Trot is an alternation of four slow and four or eight quick movements.

1952 W. J. Miller Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 6) iii. 19 The best specimens are those which, through the action of frost, rain, alternations of heat and cold, or other natural causes, have been freed..from the matrix.

1997 F. de Waal Bonobo ii. 29 The four fingers of the open hand are bent and stretched in rapid alternation.

b. The doing of anything by two actors by turns, alternate performance; reading or singing antiphonally.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [noun] > alternate singing or chanting

to sing side for sidea1425

to sing (something) on sides1563

reciprocation1641

alternation1642

antiphony1753

1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 48 Such alternations as are there [sc. in the Liturgy] us'd must be by severall persons.

1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music ii. 130 The words are not confused by perplexing alternations.

1833 D. Rock Hierurgia I. i. 77 Such an alternation in singing or reciting Psalms and Hymns, may be traced up to the earliest ages of the Church.

1922 tr. F. Cabrol Liturg. Prayer iv. 36 When the psalm was recited or sung without alternation, without refrain or intercalation of any kind, it was called singing a tract, and was said to be sung in directum.

1968 A. Lomax Folk Song Style & Culture vi. 158 Simple alternation was coded whenever the leader had a clearcut, separate melodic bit to sing followed by a pause and some response from a chorus.

†2. Successive change or variation resulting from the alternate occurrence of phenomena; an instance of this. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > alternation > [noun] > instance of

alternation1633

vicissitude1648

or something1814

Box and Cox1867

1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 19) 352 By the vicissitude of time, and alternation of the wheeling heavens.

1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. Introd. 35 Inequalities in the alternation of the action of the liquor.

1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 46 Love is..an alternation of the agrodolce.

1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 75 Some of these provinces consist almost entirely of alluvial plains, but the greater number exhibit an alternation of fertile river valleys.

†3. Mathematics.

a. = permutation n. 3b. Obsolete. N.E.D. (1884) labels this use as erroneous.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [noun] > correspondence > preserving relations or elements > changing order

permutation1645

transposition1664

alternation1685

transmutationa1690

variation1710

commutation1852

substitution1854

logical shift1946

1685 J. Wallis Disc. Combinations ii. 115 in Treat. Algebra How many so ever of Numbers, in their natural Consecution, beginning from 1, being continually Multiplied, give us the Number of Alternations (or Change of order) of which so many things are capable.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Sometimes used for the divers Changes, or Alterations of Order, in any Number of Things proposed... How many Changes or Alternations can be rung on six Bells.

1770 W. Emerson Doctr. Combinations 8 How many alternations or changes can be made of every four letters out of these eight, aaabbbcc?

1811 E. A. Kendall Pocket Encycl. (ed. 2) II. 20 Combinations, denotes the alternations or variations of any number of quantities, letters, &c. in all possible ways.

1827 ‘S. Barrow’ Pop. Dict. Facts & Knowl. 232/2 The permutations and alternations are so numerous..that from 50 to 60,000 have already been recorded.

b. Transposition of the two middle terms of a proportion; = permutation n. 3a. Cf. alternate proportion n. at alternate adj., adv., and n. Compounds. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epitomiz'd 100 For if A:a::B:b, Then by Alternation A:B::a:b.

1814 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 104 126 QM : HE :: qm : he [and] QM : GF :: qm : gf and, by alternation, QM :qm :: HE : he [and] QM :qm :: GF : gf.

1862 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 152 230 Resolving the events xy, yz, xz into the possible alternations out of which they are formed, [etc.].

a. Each of the layers of an object or material composed of two substances in alternate layers.

ΚΠ

1815 Philos. Trans. 105 365 Alternations of platina and silver, three times repeated.

1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 674/2 The fineness of the Damascus depends upon the number and thickness of the alternations [of iron and steel].

1920 E. F. Burchard Marble Resources Southeastern Alaska 41 A thin section of the mottled marble was examined... It consists of finely granular faintly pinkish rock and coarse transparent rock in irregular alternations.

1991 R. Goldring Fossils in Field iii. 41 The laterally-accreted alternations of thin mudstones and siltstones of fluviatile and estuarine facies are often rich in plant fossils.

b. An alternating pattern or state; alternate juxtaposition or placement.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > state of being in alternate order

alternation1830

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > other specific arrangements > [noun] > alternate or staggered arrangement

alternation1830

stagger1937

1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. iii. 44 Alternations are rare, yet not without example, of marine strata, and those which contain marshy and terrestrial productions.

1841 J. Trimmer Pract. Geol. 182 Rarely met with..without the alternation of other rocks.

1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) ii. §128 Streak after streak of warm and cool water in regular alternations.

1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. ii. 13 (table) Is there a definite alternation of weak and strong outcrops? If so, the rocks are likely to be part of a sedimentary succession.

1991 A. Chaudhuri Strange & Sublime Addr. (1992) 151 The linoleum floor in the corridor had an alternation of red and white squares.

c. The action or an instance of an electric current reversing direction at regular short intervals; a half-cycle of an alternating current or voltage, in which the current or voltage changes from zero to a maximum in one direction, and back to zero again. Cf. alternating adj. 2b.The earliest quotations refer to simple reversals of a direct current.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > alternating current > [noun] > change of direction

alternation1843

rectification1892

1843 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 4 202 In the course of a few minutes, the copper again becomes positive; and thus the action changes from one side to the other, and is accompanied by a corresponding alternation of the electric current.

1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) x. 470 (heading) The causes which modify the action of the electric current on the nerves. 1st. Alternations of the current.

1855 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancement Sci. 1854 Notices & Abstr. 17 Those wires are now..working at the required speed, viz. twenty-five words per minute, for which 300 alternations of current per minute are required.

1948 A. L. Rawlings Sci. Clocks & Watches (ed. 2) xix. 275 Synchronous electric-motor clocks..are not really clocks in the sense of being-self contained timekeepers, because their rate depends entirely on the frequency of the alternations of the electricity supply by which they are driven.

1961 Listener 9 Nov. 768/2 A cable, say fifty miles long, operating at a pressure of 100,000 volts, would be charged and discharged with every alternation of current.

2002 M. Fogiel Basic Electr. ix. 160/2 The cycle is two complete alternations in a period of time.

5. Logic.

a. The function of alternative propositions, symbolized by v (Latin vel) and corresponding to the inclusive sense of or (cf. inclusive or at OR n.², and/or at and conj.¹ 1f).The function has the value true whenever at least one of its components is true, and has the value false only when every component is false.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical truth > [noun] > truth-functionality > truth function

alternation1862

truth-function1909

1862 P. McGregor Syst. Logic ii. 65 A thing either is or is not. This is the formula of alternation; and it is extensively employed to determine all the possible conditions of a problem.

1890 E. E. C. Jones Elem. Logic 120 Mill, and Jevons..insist upon the non-exclusiveness of alternation.

1940 W. V. Quine Math. Logic i. 12 Alternation—composition of statements by means of the connective ‘or’.

1955 A. N. Prior Formal Logic i. 8 Writers who use ‘disjunction’ in this way generally call the non-exclusive ‘Either p or q’, the ‘alternative’ function or ‘alternation’ of its arguments... The alternation of two propositions is also often called their logical sum.

1998 Philos. Issues 9 130 Any thought consisting of alternation applied to the thoughts p and q is true if and only if either p is true or q is true.

b. An alternative proposition; a compound statement or formula formed by joining two or more statements or formulas by the connective symbol v or the word or.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > disjunctive or alternative proposition

discretivec1525

disjunctive1533

disjunction1588

alternant1790

alternation1883

partitive judgement1895

disjunct1921

1883 Stud. Logic 47 It is apparent that logical notation would be improved by the addition of another sign, by means of which an alternation of universal and a combination of particular propositions might be expressed.

1894 J. N. Keynes Stud. & Exerc. Formal Logic (ed. 3) ii. ix. 231 To deny an alternation is the same thing as to affirm a conjunction.

1950 W. V. Quine Methods of Logic (1952) i. 19 ‘Either’ and ‘or’ may be used to mark the boundaries of the first component of an alternation.

1995 T. Tymoczko & J. Henle Sweet Reason i. 8 This alternation is logically true, so it is true now, and so one of its alternants must be true now.

6. Linguistics. The variation (often phonological or morphological) exhibited by a particular feature of speech or language. Cf. alternant n. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > [noun] > variation or variant

alternance1826

alternation1894

alternant1925

1894 V. Henry Short Compar. Gram. Eng. & German v. 113 The greater part of such roots as began with the group in question exhibited already in the I.-E. period a peculiar alternation.

1926 L. Bloomfield in Language 2 160 If a formal alternation is determined by the phonemes of the accompanying forms, it is an automatic alternation.

1991 Lang. in Society 20 435 Does the phonetic alternation in Cree indeed have the same meaning as the phonemic alternation in Chipewyan, assuming the validity of the psychological reality of the phoneme?

2001 M. Taylor & A. Liberman tr. N. S. Trubetzkoy Stud. Gen. Linguistics & Lang. Struct. x. 73 The types of phonetic alternation occurring in a given language are simply listed without any distinction between living and dead types or attention to the conditions governing the occurrence of the alternations.

Phrases

alternation of generations n. [after German Generationswechsel (1842 in the passage translated in quot. 1845) and post-classical Latin alternatio generationum ( A. von Chamisso De animalibus quibusdam e classe vermium Linnæana (1819) 10)] Biology a pattern of reproduction occurring in the life cycles of plants and some invertebrates, involving a regular alternation between two distinct forms (typically a sexual form and an asexual form, as in ferns, or a dioecious and a parthenogenetic one, as in some jellyfishes); cf. alternate generation n. at alternate adj., adv., and n. Compounds.

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

1845 G. Busk tr. J. J. S. Steenstrup (title) On alternation of generations.

1858 G. H. Lewes Sea-side Stud. 287 The solitary Salpa produces the chain-Salpa by ‘budding’; and the chain-Salpa by ‘alternation of generations’ (the phrase is Chamisso's) produces the solitary Salpa by ova.

1913 W. E. Kellicott Textbk. Gen. Embryol. iv. 162 The alternation between the sporophyte and gametophyte in ferns and mosses is truly an alternation of generations.

1948 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 75 601 In plants showing alternation of generations, one generation can be secured (sometimes) by regeneration from the alternate generation.

2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. vi. 212 Many cnidarians..have life cycles that include both polyps and medusae..and they are said to practise alternation of generations.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	alternation
释义	alternationn. Brit. /ˌɔːltəˈneɪʃn/, /ˌɒltəˈneɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌɔltərˈneɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌɑltərˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ Forms: late Middle English alternacioun, late Middle English–1500s alternacion, 1500s– alternation. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French alternation; Latin alternātiōn-, alternātiō. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman alternacioun and Middle French alternacion, alternation (French alternation ; now rare) alternate succession or occurrence (a1321 or earlier in Anglo-Norman in par alternacioun alternately, by turns), change (14th cent.; apparently not attested between 1611 and the mid 18th cent.) and its etymon classical Latin alternātiōn-, alternātiō alternate movement, ambivalence < alternāt- , past participial stem of alternāre (see alternate v.) + -iō -ion suffix¹. With the sense development compare alternate v. 1. a. The action or an instance of two things succeeding each other by turn; alternate succession or occurrence. ΘΚΠ the world > time > change > alternation > [noun] interchangingc1374 alternationc1443 alternement1483 interchange1559 intercourse1571 reciprocation1586 circulation1597 counterchange1602 interchangeableness1606 subalternation1616 vicissitude1624 alternity1646 alternacy1650 alternative1732 variegation1781 fluctuation1802 alternance1826 up and down1855 intermittence1860 c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 479 Come aȝen in an oþer while to contemplatijf lijf, and aftirward eftsoone come aȝen into such actijf lijf..if abilte and oportunyte be had forto make such alternaciouns or chaungis. a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 51 (MED) Whan þe consolacion is taken awey, dispeire not..for ofte tymes in grete seintes..haþ ben þis maner of alternacion [L. alternationis]. 1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) Alternation or chaunging one after an other. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Alternation, an alternation, a succession by turne. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 147 Hares may exchange their sex, yet..not in that vicissitude or annuall alternation as is presumed. View more context for this quotation 1707 J. Dunton Athenian Sport xcvi. 413/2 They have an Alternation of Joys and Sorrows. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 215 My spirits were exhausted by the alternation of pleasure and pain. 1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood xxi. 394 She behaved with strange alternations of dislike and passionate affection. 1880 H. James Benvolio i. 345 To take the helm in alternation. 1919 E. Scott All about Latest Dances 68 The true basis of the American Fox-Trot is an alternation of four slow and four or eight quick movements. 1952 W. J. Miller Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 6) iii. 19 The best specimens are those which, through the action of frost, rain, alternations of heat and cold, or other natural causes, have been freed..from the matrix. 1997 F. de Waal Bonobo ii. 29 The four fingers of the open hand are bent and stretched in rapid alternation. b. The doing of anything by two actors by turns, alternate performance; reading or singing antiphonally. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [noun] > alternate singing or chanting to sing side for sidea1425 to sing (something) on sides1563 reciprocation1641 alternation1642 antiphony1753 1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 48 Such alternations as are there [sc. in the Liturgy] us'd must be by severall persons. 1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music ii. 130 The words are not confused by perplexing alternations. 1833 D. Rock Hierurgia I. i. 77 Such an alternation in singing or reciting Psalms and Hymns, may be traced up to the earliest ages of the Church. 1922 tr. F. Cabrol Liturg. Prayer iv. 36 When the psalm was recited or sung without alternation, without refrain or intercalation of any kind, it was called singing a tract, and was said to be sung in directum. 1968 A. Lomax Folk Song Style & Culture vi. 158 Simple alternation was coded whenever the leader had a clearcut, separate melodic bit to sing followed by a pause and some response from a chorus. †2. Successive change or variation resulting from the alternate occurrence of phenomena; an instance of this. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > time > change > alternation > [noun] > instance of alternation1633 vicissitude1648 or something1814 Box and Cox1867 1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 19) 352 By the vicissitude of time, and alternation of the wheeling heavens. 1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. Introd. 35 Inequalities in the alternation of the action of the liquor. 1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 46 Love is..an alternation of the agrodolce. 1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 75 Some of these provinces consist almost entirely of alluvial plains, but the greater number exhibit an alternation of fertile river valleys. †3. Mathematics. a. = permutation n. 3b. Obsolete. N.E.D. (1884) labels this use as erroneous. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [noun] > correspondence > preserving relations or elements > changing order permutation1645 transposition1664 alternation1685 transmutationa1690 variation1710 commutation1852 substitution1854 logical shift1946 1685 J. Wallis Disc. Combinations ii. 115 in Treat. Algebra How many so ever of Numbers, in their natural Consecution, beginning from 1, being continually Multiplied, give us the Number of Alternations (or Change of order) of which so many things are capable. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Sometimes used for the divers Changes, or Alterations of Order, in any Number of Things proposed... How many Changes or Alternations can be rung on six Bells. 1770 W. Emerson Doctr. Combinations 8 How many alternations or changes can be made of every four letters out of these eight, aaabbbcc? 1811 E. A. Kendall Pocket Encycl. (ed. 2) II. 20 Combinations, denotes the alternations or variations of any number of quantities, letters, &c. in all possible ways. 1827 ‘S. Barrow’ Pop. Dict. Facts & Knowl. 232/2 The permutations and alternations are so numerous..that from 50 to 60,000 have already been recorded. b. Transposition of the two middle terms of a proportion; = permutation n. 3a. Cf. alternate proportion n. at alternate adj., adv., and n. Compounds. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epitomiz'd 100 For if A:a::B:b, Then by Alternation A:B::a:b. 1814 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 104 126 QM : HE :: qm : he [and] QM : GF :: qm : gf and, by alternation, QM :qm :: HE : he [and] QM :qm :: GF : gf. 1862 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 152 230 Resolving the events xy, yz, xz into the possible alternations out of which they are formed, [etc.]. 4. a. Each of the layers of an object or material composed of two substances in alternate layers. ΚΠ 1815 Philos. Trans. 105 365 Alternations of platina and silver, three times repeated. 1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 674/2 The fineness of the Damascus depends upon the number and thickness of the alternations [of iron and steel]. 1920 E. F. Burchard Marble Resources Southeastern Alaska 41 A thin section of the mottled marble was examined... It consists of finely granular faintly pinkish rock and coarse transparent rock in irregular alternations. 1991 R. Goldring Fossils in Field iii. 41 The laterally-accreted alternations of thin mudstones and siltstones of fluviatile and estuarine facies are often rich in plant fossils. b. An alternating pattern or state; alternate juxtaposition or placement. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > state of being in alternate order alternation1830 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > other specific arrangements > [noun] > alternate or staggered arrangement alternation1830 stagger1937 1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. iii. 44 Alternations are rare, yet not without example, of marine strata, and those which contain marshy and terrestrial productions. 1841 J. Trimmer Pract. Geol. 182 Rarely met with..without the alternation of other rocks. 1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) ii. §128 Streak after streak of warm and cool water in regular alternations. 1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. ii. 13 (table) Is there a definite alternation of weak and strong outcrops? If so, the rocks are likely to be part of a sedimentary succession. 1991 A. Chaudhuri Strange & Sublime Addr. (1992) 151 The linoleum floor in the corridor had an alternation of red and white squares. c. The action or an instance of an electric current reversing direction at regular short intervals; a half-cycle of an alternating current or voltage, in which the current or voltage changes from zero to a maximum in one direction, and back to zero again. Cf. alternating adj. 2b.The earliest quotations refer to simple reversals of a direct current. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > alternating current > [noun] > change of direction alternation1843 rectification1892 1843 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 4 202 In the course of a few minutes, the copper again becomes positive; and thus the action changes from one side to the other, and is accompanied by a corresponding alternation of the electric current. 1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) x. 470 (heading) The causes which modify the action of the electric current on the nerves. 1st. Alternations of the current. 1855 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancement Sci. 1854 Notices & Abstr. 17 Those wires are now..working at the required speed, viz. twenty-five words per minute, for which 300 alternations of current per minute are required. 1948 A. L. Rawlings Sci. Clocks & Watches (ed. 2) xix. 275 Synchronous electric-motor clocks..are not really clocks in the sense of being-self contained timekeepers, because their rate depends entirely on the frequency of the alternations of the electricity supply by which they are driven. 1961 Listener 9 Nov. 768/2 A cable, say fifty miles long, operating at a pressure of 100,000 volts, would be charged and discharged with every alternation of current. 2002 M. Fogiel Basic Electr. ix. 160/2 The cycle is two complete alternations in a period of time. 5. Logic. a. The function of alternative propositions, symbolized by v (Latin vel) and corresponding to the inclusive sense of or (cf. inclusive or at OR n.², and/or at and conj.¹ 1f).The function has the value true whenever at least one of its components is true, and has the value false only when every component is false. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical truth > [noun] > truth-functionality > truth function alternation1862 truth-function1909 1862 P. McGregor Syst. Logic ii. 65 A thing either is or is not. This is the formula of alternation; and it is extensively employed to determine all the possible conditions of a problem. 1890 E. E. C. Jones Elem. Logic 120 Mill, and Jevons..insist upon the non-exclusiveness of alternation. 1940 W. V. Quine Math. Logic i. 12 Alternation—composition of statements by means of the connective ‘or’. 1955 A. N. Prior Formal Logic i. 8 Writers who use ‘disjunction’ in this way generally call the non-exclusive ‘Either p or q’, the ‘alternative’ function or ‘alternation’ of its arguments... The alternation of two propositions is also often called their logical sum. 1998 Philos. Issues 9 130 Any thought consisting of alternation applied to the thoughts p and q is true if and only if either p is true or q is true. b. An alternative proposition; a compound statement or formula formed by joining two or more statements or formulas by the connective symbol v or the word or. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > disjunctive or alternative proposition discretivec1525 disjunctive1533 disjunction1588 alternant1790 alternation1883 partitive judgement1895 disjunct1921 1883 Stud. Logic 47 It is apparent that logical notation would be improved by the addition of another sign, by means of which an alternation of universal and a combination of particular propositions might be expressed. 1894 J. N. Keynes Stud. & Exerc. Formal Logic (ed. 3) ii. ix. 231 To deny an alternation is the same thing as to affirm a conjunction. 1950 W. V. Quine Methods of Logic (1952) i. 19 ‘Either’ and ‘or’ may be used to mark the boundaries of the first component of an alternation. 1995 T. Tymoczko & J. Henle Sweet Reason i. 8 This alternation is logically true, so it is true now, and so one of its alternants must be true now. 6. Linguistics. The variation (often phonological or morphological) exhibited by a particular feature of speech or language. Cf. alternant n. 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > [noun] > variation or variant alternance1826 alternation1894 alternant1925 1894 V. Henry Short Compar. Gram. Eng. & German v. 113 The greater part of such roots as began with the group in question exhibited already in the I.-E. period a peculiar alternation. 1926 L. Bloomfield in Language 2 160 If a formal alternation is determined by the phonemes of the accompanying forms, it is an automatic alternation. 1991 Lang. in Society 20 435 Does the phonetic alternation in Cree indeed have the same meaning as the phonemic alternation in Chipewyan, assuming the validity of the psychological reality of the phoneme? 2001 M. Taylor & A. Liberman tr. N. S. Trubetzkoy Stud. Gen. Linguistics & Lang. Struct. x. 73 The types of phonetic alternation occurring in a given language are simply listed without any distinction between living and dead types or attention to the conditions governing the occurrence of the alternations. Phrases alternation of generations n. [after German Generationswechsel (1842 in the passage translated in quot. 1845) and post-classical Latin alternatio generationum ( A. von Chamisso De animalibus quibusdam e classe vermium Linnæana (1819) 10)] Biology a pattern of reproduction occurring in the life cycles of plants and some invertebrates, involving a regular alternation between two distinct forms (typically a sexual form and an asexual form, as in ferns, or a dioecious and a parthenogenetic one, as in some jellyfishes); cf. alternate generation n. at alternate adj., adv., and n. Compounds. 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 1845 G. Busk tr. J. J. S. Steenstrup (title) On alternation of generations. 1858 G. H. Lewes Sea-side Stud. 287 The solitary Salpa produces the chain-Salpa by ‘budding’; and the chain-Salpa by ‘alternation of generations’ (the phrase is Chamisso's) produces the solitary Salpa by ova. 1913 W. E. Kellicott Textbk. Gen. Embryol. iv. 162 The alternation between the sporophyte and gametophyte in ferns and mosses is truly an alternation of generations. 1948 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 75 601 In plants showing alternation of generations, one generation can be secured (sometimes) by regeneration from the alternate generation. 2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. vi. 212 Many cnidarians..have life cycles that include both polyps and medusae..and they are said to practise alternation of generations. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.c1443
随便看	to cultivate one's garden to cultivate one's own garden to curdle the blood to curl a person's hair to curl hair to curl one's lip to curl the lip to curl the mo to curl up to curry acquaintance to curry applause to curry favel to curry favour to curry friends to curry good will to curry pardon to curry the skin coat of to curse by bell, book, and candle to curse one's stars to curtail a etc of to curtail a person of to curtail in to curtail of to cushion the blow to cut a a person to ribbons