alternative
Appearance
See also: Alternative
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). Compare alternate.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ɒlˈtɜː(ɹ).nə.tɪv/
- (US) IPA(key): /ɔlˈtɝ.nə.tɪv/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɑlˈtɝ.nə.tɪv/
Audio (US): (file)
Adjective
[edit]alternative (not comparable)
- Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
- an alternative proposition
- (linguistics) Presenting two or more alternatives.
- Synonym: disjunctive
- alternative conjunctions like or
- Other; different from something else.
- Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
- (obsolete) Alternate, reciprocal.
- 1601, Pliny the Elder, “Of the seuen Planets”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The History of the World Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus, translation of Naturalis Historia (in Classical Latin), 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.
Derived terms
[edit]- alternapop
- alternarock
- alternateen
- alternative algebra
- alternative archaeology
- alternative country
- alternative denial
- alternative dispute resolution
- alternative energy
- alternative episcopal oversight
- alternative fact
- alternative fashion
- alternative fertilization
- alternative fuel
- alternative fund
- alternative hip hop
- alternative hip-hop
- alternative history
- alternative hypothesis
- alternative investment
- alternative investment fund
- alternative left
- alternative liability
- alternative lifestyle
- alternative medicine
- alternative metal
- alternative minimum tax
- alternative music
- alternative pop
- alternative press
- alternative provision
- alternative right
- alternative RNA splicing
- alternative rock
- alternative service
- alternative universe
- alternative vote
- alternativist
- alternativity
- altlang
- coalternative
- mallternative
- malternative
- multialternative
- nonalternative
- unalternative
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]relating to a choice
|
other
|
not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground
|
Noun
[edit]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 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [XI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 268:
- “The cloister or a betrothed husband?” I echoed—“Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?”
- One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen. [from 17th c.]
- 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison[2]:
- 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.
- The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted. [from 18th c.]
- (uncountable, music) alternative rock
- A non-offensive word or phrase that serves as a replacement for a word deemed offensive or unacceptable, though not as a euphemism.
- Disability activists discourage the use of the words "crazy" and "insane" due to their negative connections to mental health, suggesting alternatives such as "wild", "silly", or "out of this world", which do not relate to mental health.
Synonyms
[edit]- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:option
Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]a situation which allows a choice between two or more possibilities
|
one of several things which can be chosen
|
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- “alternative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “alternative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Esperanto
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]alternative
French
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /al.tɛʁ.na.tiv/
Audio: (file) - Homophone: alternatives
Adjective
[edit]alternative
Noun
[edit]alternative f (plural alternatives)
Further reading
[edit]- “alternative”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Adjective
[edit]alternative
- inflection of alternativ:
Italian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]alternative
Noun
[edit]alternative f
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /al.ter.naːˈtiː.u̯e/, [äɫ̪t̪ɛrnäːˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /al.ter.naˈti.ve/, [äl̪t̪ernäˈt̪iːve]
Adjective
[edit]alternātīve
Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Adjective
[edit]alternative
- inflection of alternativ:
Norwegian Nynorsk
[edit]Adjective
[edit]alternative
- inflection of alternativ:
Swedish
[edit]Adjective
[edit]alternative
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