Definitions for alternation

• Definition
• Anagrams (830)

alternation al·ter·na·tion

Spelling: [awl-ter-ney-shuh n, al-]

IPA: /ˌɔl tərˈneɪ ʃən, ˌæl-/

Alternation is a 11 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 11 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 14 points.

You can make 830 anagrams from letters in alternation (aaeilnnortt).

Definitions for alternation

noun

1. the act or process of alternating or the state of being alternated.
2. alternate succession; repeated rotation:
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.

Origin of alternation

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

Examples for alternation

Combine the last two exercises and give them in alternation.

The succession, or alternation of life and death, had occurred to Heracleitus.

A second alternation of darkness and light marks the lapse of time.

In this alternation of rapture and despair all her time passes.

To watch the alternation of these tints was the school of madness.

Who would prefer such an alternation to the equable life of pure thought?

It undergoes no alternation of passions; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another chilled by disappointment.

There was no distance, scarcely even an alternation of light and shadow.

Heterogeny: the alternation of sexual and parthenogenetic generations.

Observe that Plato is preparing the way for his doctrine of the alternation of opposites.