Alternate

How to spell alternate

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce alternate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alternate mean?

1. verbTo switch back and forth repeatedly between two states, actions, or things.
2. adjectiveEvery other one in a series, or serving as a substitute or backup.
3. nounA person or thing that serves as a substitute for another, especially a backup member.

Alternate in a sentence

• verb

  The two managers alternate between the morning and evening shifts each week.

• adjective

  The committee meets on alternate Tuesdays rather than every week.

• noun

  She was named an alternate on the jury in case a regular member fell ill.

• verb

  The recipe asks you to alternate layers of pasta and sauce in the dish.

• adjective

  The flight was cancelled, so the airline booked her on an alternate route home.

• noun

  The delegate could not attend, so his alternate cast the vote instead.

Where does alternate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb alternare, meaning 'to do one thing and then another in turns', which was built on the adjective alternus, 'one after the other'. That root in turn comes from alter, the plain Latin word for 'the other (of two)', the same ancestor that gives us 'alter', 'altercation' and 'alternative'. English took the word in during the late 1500s, first as a verb describing things that take turns, and the adjective sense of 'every other one' or 'standing in for another' followed soon after. Over time American English in particular extended the noun and adjective senses to mean a substitute or stand-in, as in an alternate juror. The spelling stays close to the Latin, so remembering alter ('the other') helps anchor the 'alter' opening and the single 't' in the middle.

How the word is built

• altern- (from Latin alternus: one after the other, from alter 'other')
• -ate (verb/adjective suffix)