- alternate (adj.)
- 1510s, from L. alternatus "one after the other," pp. of alternare "to do first one thing, then the other," from alternus "every other," from alter "the other" (see alter). The verb is recorded from c.1600; the noun meaning "a substitute" is first attested 1848. Alternate means "by turns;" alternative means "offering a choice." Both imply two kinds or things.