alternative
Pronunciation: /ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv/
The English word “alternative” has 10 meanings listed here.
adjective
- Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
- Presenting two or more alternatives.
- Other; different from something else.
- Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
- Alternate, reciprocal.
noun
- A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities.
- One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen.
- The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
- 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.
Etymology
From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). By surface analysis, alternate + -ive. Compare alternate.
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More English words
- alternatingly
- alternation
- alternation of generations
- alternational
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About this dictionary
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.