Alternative

How to spell alternative

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce alternative

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alternative mean?

1. nounOne of two or more options or possibilities available to be chosen.
2. adjectiveAvailable or usable instead of something else; differing from the usual or conventional.

Alternative in a sentence

• noun

  The committee considered a cheaper alternative before approving the budget.

• adjective

  The clinic offers an alternative treatment for patients who dislike surgery.

• noun

  Taking the train was the only practical alternative to driving.

• adjective

  We mapped an alternative route to avoid the closed motorway.

Where does alternative come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin alternus, meaning 'one after another' or 'by turns', which was itself built on alter, the Latin word for 'the other (of two)'. From alternus came the late Latin verb alternare, 'to do first one thing and then the other', and the related adjective forms that English eventually absorbed. The modern word entered English in the sixteenth century by way of French, at first carrying the strict sense of a choice between exactly two possibilities, reflecting that 'other of two' core in alter. Over time the meaning loosened so that an alternative can now be any of several options, not just one of a pair. The same alter root still shows up in everyday relatives like 'alter' (to change) and 'altercation' (a quarrel), and remembering that the middle is altern, not alturn, helps fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• altern- (from alternus: one after the other, by turns)
• -ative (adjective/noun suffix)