Alternatively

How to spell alternatively

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce alternatively

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alternatively mean?

1. adverbUsed to introduce a second possibility or different option instead of the one just mentioned.

Alternatively in a sentence

• You could pay the deposit now, or alternatively settle the full amount at checkout.

• The report can be emailed today; alternatively it can be posted next week.

Where does alternatively come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin alternus, meaning 'one after the other' or 'every other in turn', which was itself built on alter, the ordinary Latin word for 'the other one of two'. From alternus came the Latin verb alternare, 'to do things by turns', and English picked up the adjective 'alternative' in the 1500s to describe one of two options offered in place of another. The adverb 'alternatively' followed, joining the adjective to the familiar -ly ending to mean 'as another option'. The same alter root sits behind a whole family of English words, including 'alter', 'alternate', and even 'altercation', all carrying the idea of otherness or change. The spelling trap lies in the quiet middle: the unstressed vowels in 'al-ter-na-tive-ly' all soften to a schwa, so writers must remember it is altern-a-tive, not 'alternitively' or 'alternately'.

How the word is built

• altern- (from Latin alternus: one after the other)
• -ate (verb suffix)
• -ive (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)