Where does “alternative” come from?
Alternative comes from Middle French alternatif, derived from Medieval Latin alternativus, which combines the Latin root alter meaning "other" with the Latin suffix -ivus forming adjectives of quality or function.
alternative (English): Relating to a choice between two or more...
Definitions
- Relating to a choice between two or more...
Ancestry of “alternative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | alternatif | alternating; alternative |
| 2 | Latin | alternativus | alternating |
| 3 | Latin | alternātus | alternated, vacillated |
| 4 | Latin | alternō | to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate |
| 5 | Latin | alternus | alternate (one after the other), successive |
| 6 | Latin | alter | the other, the second; the one...the other |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂élteros | other , second |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂el- | to grow, nourish; beyond, other; to wander, roam |