English
alternative
Alternative comes from Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus ‘alternating’, from Latin alternō ‘to do by turns’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternus1‘one after the other, alternate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternō1‘to do by turns, alternate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternātus1‘alternated’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500alternātīvus1‘alternating’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alternatif1
- Englishearliest quotation 1601alternative1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English alternative
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Pliny the Elder, Of the seuen Planets: “He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternusWiktionary, English alternative‘one after the other, alternate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternōWiktionary, English alternative‘to do by turns, alternate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalternātusWiktionary, English alternative‘alternated’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500alternātīvusWiktionary, English alternative‘alternating’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alternatifWiktionary, English alternative
- Englishearliest quotation 1601alternativeWiktionary, English alternative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Pliny the Elder, Of the seuen Planets: “He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to…”
A compound of alter ‘the other’ + alternō ‘to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos ‘other, another’
Proto-Italic *aljos ‘another’
Proto-Italic *aliteros ‘other (of two)’
Latin alter ‘the other’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos ‘other, another’
Proto-Italic *aljos ‘another’
Proto-Italic *aliteros ‘other (of two)’
Latin alter ‘the other’
Latin alternus ‘alternate, successive’
Latin alternō ‘to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate’
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Today it means
adj Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “alternative”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin alternus / alternative