alterative

American  

[awl-tuh-rey-tiv, -ter-uh-tiv] / ˈɔl təˌreɪ tɪv, -tər ə tɪv /

adjective

1. tending to alter.

2. Medicine/Medical Obsolete. gradually restoring healthy bodily functions.

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noun

1. Medicine/Medical Obsolete. an alterative remedy.

alterative British  

/ ˈɔːltərətɪv /

adjective

1. likely or able to produce alteration

2. obsolete (of a drug) able to restore normal health

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noun

1. obsolete a drug that restores normal health

Etymology

Origin of alterative

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word alterātīvus. See alter, -ative

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alterative

She updates the lists manually to provide alterative items for donors to buy.

From Reuters ● Jul. 29, 2021

It was designed to offer young people an alterative to gang membership such as youth clubs but, crucially, also the prospect of training and work.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2018

A 55-ton acoustical shell has been designed for an alterative configuration, and that remains to be heard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2016

And its long-shot funding agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy, has expressed interest in some of the alterative concepts, to the extent of holding a workshop on them last year.

From Nature ● Jul. 22, 2014

Acts as an alterative on the blood, and is accordingly useful in cases of leprosy, when the blood is corrupted.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer