alternation

[ awl-ter-ney-shuhn, al- ]
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noun
  1. the act or process of alternating or the state of being alternated.

  2. alternate succession; repeated rotation: the alternation of the seasons.

  1. Electricity. a single fluctuation in the absolute value of an alternating current or voltage from zero to a maximum and back to zero, being equal to one half cycle.

  2. Linguistics. variation in the form of a linguistic unit as it occurs in different environments or under different conditions, as between the -ed and -en forms of the past participle in danced and spoken or between the (t) and (d) pronunciations of the past tense suffix -ed in hopped and rubbed.

Origin of alternation

1
First recorded in 1605–15, alternation is from the Late Latin word alternātiōn- (stem of alternātiō). See alternate, -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use alternation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for alternation

alternation

/ (ˌɔːltəˈneɪʃən) /


noun
  1. successive change from one condition or action to another and back again repeatedly

  2. logic another name for disjunction (def. 3)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012