alternative
See also: Alternative
English
Etymology
From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). Compare alternate.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɒlˈtɜːnətɪv/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌɔlˈtɝnəɾɪv/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˌɑlˈtɝnəɾɪv/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
alternative (not comparable)
- Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
- an alternative proposition
- Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
- Other; different from something else.
- Alternate, reciprocal.
- 1601, Philemon Holland, transl., “Of the seuen Planets”, in The History of the World Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus, translation of Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder, page 3:
- He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to all things, and riddeth them from darkneſſe : hee hideth the other ſtarres, and ſheweth them againe : he ordereth the ſeaſons in their alternative courſe : he tempereth the yeere, ariſing ever freſh and new againe, for the benefite and good of the world.
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Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Relating to a choice
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other
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Noun
alternative (plural alternatives)
- A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities. [from 17th c.]
- 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XI:
- ‘The cloister or a betrothed husband?’ I echoed—‘Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?’
- 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XI:
- One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen. [from 17th c.]
- 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison:
- Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.
- 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison:
- The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted. [from 18th c.]
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:option
Translations
a situation which allows a choice between two or more possibilities
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one of several things which can be chosen
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See also
References
- alternative in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- alternative in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Esperanto
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /al.tɛʁ.na.tiv/
alternative (file)
Further reading
- “alternative” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Italian
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ive
Latin
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Swedish
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