Where does “alternative” come from?
alternative (Esperanto) comes from Esperanto alternativo, from French alternative, from Latin alternativus, from Latin alternātus, from Latin alternō, from Latin alternus, from Latin alter, from Proto-Indo-European h₂élteros — to grow, nourish; beyond, other; to wander, roam.
alternative (Esperanto): alternatively
Definitions
- alternatively
Ancestry of “alternative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esperanto | alternativo | alternative |
| 2 | French | alternative | feminine singular of alternatif; alternative |
| 3 | Latin | alternativus | alternating |
| 4 | Latin | alternātus | alternated, vacillated |
| 5 | Latin | alternō | to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate |
| 6 | Latin | alternus | alternate (one after the other), successive |
| 7 | Latin | alter | the other, the second; the one...the other |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂élteros | other , second |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂el- | to grow, nourish; beyond, other; to wander, roam |