al·ter·na·tion

(ôl′tər-nā′shən, ăl′-)

Successive change from one thing or state to another and back again.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alternation

(ˌɔːltəˈneɪʃən)

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

2. (Logic) logic another name for disjunction³

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•ter•na•tion

(ˌɔl tərˈneɪ ʃən, ˌæl-)

n.

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

2. repeated rotation: the alternation of the seasons.

3. variation in the form of a linguistic unit as it occurs in different environments or under different conditions.

[1605–15]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

alternation - successive change from one thing or state to another and back again; "a trill is a rapid alternation between the two notes"

succession, sequence - the action of following in order; "he played the trumps in sequence"

alternation

noun rotation, change, swing, variation, oscillation, fluctuation, vacillation, vicissitude The alternation of sun and snow continued throughout the holiday.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

alternation

noun

Occurrence in successive turns:

interchange, rotation.

Translations

تَعاقُب

střídání

skiftenvekslen

Wechsel

alternance

alternacija

váltakozás

umskipti

alternanza avvicendamento

skifting veksling

biribirini izleme

交替轮流

alternation

[ˌɒltɜːˈneɪʃən] N → alternación f
in alternation → alternativamente

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

alternation

[ˌɔːltə^rˈneɪʃ^ən] n → alternance f
an alternation between A and B, an alternation from A to B → une alternance entre A et B

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

alternation

n → Wechsel m; the alternation of crops → der Fruchtwechsel

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

alternate

(ˈoːltəneit) verb

to use, do etc by turns, repeatedly, one after the other. John alternates between teaching and studying; He tried to alternate red and yellow tulips along the path as he planted them.

(oːlˈtəːnət) adjective

1. coming, happening etc in turns, one after the other. The water came in alternate bursts of hot and cold.

2. every second (day, week etc). My friend and I take the children to school on alternate days.

alˈternately (-ˈtəːnət-) adverb

She felt alternately hot and cold.

alterˈnation noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

With regard to Charles Hayter, she had delicacy which must be pained by any lightness of conduct in a well-meaning young woman, and a heart to sympathize in any of the sufferings it occasioned; but if Henrietta found herself mistaken in the nature of her feelings, the alternation could not be understood too soon.

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It was a sobbing alternation of two notes, "Ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla," keeping on perpetually.

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Miss Crawford was soon to leave Mansfield, and on this circumstance the "no" and the "yes" had been very recently in alternation. He had seen her eyes sparkle as she spoke of the dear friend's letter, which claimed a long visit from her in London, and of the kindness of Henry, in engaging to remain where he was till January, that he might convey her thither; he had heard her speak of the pleasure of such a journey with an animation which had "no" in every tone.

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It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas, to present the tragic and the comic scenes, in as regular alternation, as the layers of red and white in a side of streaky bacon.

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Even now, her mind, with that instantaneous alternation which makes two currents of feeling or imagination seem simultaneous, is glancing continually from Stephen to the preparations she has only half finished in Maggie's room.

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His changes of mood did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with their alternation; the ebb and flow depended on causes quite disconnected with me.

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"He said he would never do anything that I disapproved--I wish I could have told him that I disapproved of that," said poor Dorothea, inwardly, feeling a strange alternation between anger with Will and the passionate defence of him.

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'If the soul existed in a previous state, then it will exist in a future state, for a law of alternation pervades all things.' And, 'If the ideas exist, then the soul exists; if not, not.' It is to be observed, both in the Meno and the Phaedo, that Socrates expresses himself with diffidence.

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The larger areas, coloured red and blue, are all elongated; and between the two colours there is a degree of rude alternation, as if the rising of one had balanced the sinking of the other.

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On the rear-stage, however, behind the curtain, more elaborate scenery might be placed, and Elizabethan plays, like those of our own day, seem sometimes to have 'alternation scenes,' intended to be acted in front, while the next background was being prepared behind the balcony curtain.

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I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation, or alternation, or repetition, or symmetry, or anything else that I ever heard of.

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The alternations of night and day grew slower and slower, and so did the passage of the sun across the sky, until they seemed to stretch through centuries.

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