alternation
[awl-ter-ney-shuh n, al-]
noun
the act or process of alternating or the state of being alternated.
alternate succession; repeated rotation: the alternation of the seasons.
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.
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for alternation
Historical Examples of alternation
In this alternation of rapture and despair all her time passes.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
Who would prefer such an alternation to the equable life of pure thought?
PhilebusPlato
Observe that Plato is preparing the way for his doctrine of the alternation of opposites.
PhaedoPlato
The succession, or alternation of life and death, had occurred to Heracleitus.
PhaedoPlato
Combine the last two exercises and give them in alternation.
alternation
noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
alternation
[ôl′tər-nā′shən, ăl′-]
n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.