alternation

American  

[awl-ter-ney-shuhn, al-] / ˌɔl tərˈneɪ ʃən, ˌæl- /

noun

1. the act or process of alternating or the state of being alternated.

2. alternate succession; repeated rotation.

   the alternation of the seasons.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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alternation British  

/ ˌɔːltəˈneɪʃən /

noun

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

2. logic another name for disjunction

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Etymology

Origin of alternation

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

Example Sentences

Also, recordings of a kind of electrical dialog between fish featured highly-precise turn-taking in which the fish emitted their electrical discharges in strict alternation.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2024

That alternation between the serious and the absurd was the series’ stock in trade.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2023

Sitting on the chairs and toggling between resilience and collapse, in relay or alternation, they match the force of the electronically layered drums in Mikel Rouse’s prerecorded score.

From New York Times • Nov. 6, 2023

When I compared each toss outcome with the next, 24 of the 50 comparisons yielded a changed result—just the sort of nearly 50 percent alternation we would expect from coin tossing.

From Scientific American • Sep. 27, 2023

Man, woman, man, in a ring of endless alternation round the table.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley