alternation
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English
Etymology
Latin alternatio; compare French alternation. Morphologically alternate + -ion
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒl.tə(ɹ).ˌneɪ.ʃən/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔl.tɚ.ˌneɪ.ʃən/, /ˈɑl.tɚ.ˌneɪ.ʃən/
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Noun
alternation (countable and uncountable, plural alternations)
- The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence
- the alternation of day and night
- alternation of summer and winter
- alternation between night shifts and day shifts
- alternation of feelings between hope and fear
- (religion) The response of the congregation speaking alternately with the minister.
- 1795, William Mason, Essays, Historical and Critical, on English Church Music:
- There are Anthems to be found amongst them , where every syllable has its just length ; each part of a sentence its proper pause : where the words are not confused by perplexing alternations, or rendered tedious by unnecessary repetitions
- (phonology) Ablaut.
- (linguistics) A pattern by which more than one construct is possible, as with "Alice cooked Bob dinner" and "Alice cooked dinner for Bob".
- dative alternation; locative alternation
- (logic) The "inclusive or" truth function.
- (mathematics) A sequence that alternates between positive and negative values; sometimes incorrectly used to mean permutation.
- (computing) A construct in a regular expression that can match any of several specified subexpressions.
- (geometry) A type of partial truncation of a polygon, polyhedron or tiling in which alternate vertices are removed.
- 1932, Harold Scott Macdonald Coxeter, The densities of the regular polytopes, part 2, reprinted in 1995, F. Arthur Sherk, Peter Mcmullen, Anthony C. Thompson, Asia Ivić Weiss (editors), Kaleidoscopes: Selected Writings of H. S. M. Coxeter, page 54,
- This case suggests that the alternation of a polyhedron should be bounded by actual vertex figures and alternated faces. The case of the cube is in agreement with this notion, since the alternated square is nothing.
- 1932, Harold Scott Macdonald Coxeter, The densities of the regular polytopes, part 2, reprinted in 1995, F. Arthur Sherk, Peter Mcmullen, Anthony C. Thompson, Asia Ivić Weiss (editors), Kaleidoscopes: Selected Writings of H. S. M. Coxeter, page 54,
Derived terms
Translations
alternate succession
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response
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ablaut — see ablaut
inclusive or — see inclusive or
alternating sequence