alterant 
alterant (al'ter-ant), a. and n. 
, . . L . ____ 
an(t-)s, ppr. of alterare, alter: see alter.'] 
Producing alteration ; effecting change. 
Whether the body be alterant or altered. 
Iliimii, Nat. Hist., Int. to ix. 
II. n. 1. An alterative. 2. Specifically, in 
dyeing, any substance employed to modify or 
change a color. 
This last effect [of modification] may, however, be pro- 
duced by a variety of matters besides those which are of 
the earthy or metallic kinds, ami indeed by everythini: 
capable, not of fixing, but of merely varying, the shades of 
adjective colouring matters. These, therefore, I think it 
more proper to designate, not as mordants or bases, but as 
alterants. 
E. Bancroft, Philos. of Perm. Colours (ed. 1813), I. 344. 
160 
[< ML. alter- altern (al'tern, formerly al-tern'), a. [< L. al- 
" I. a. 
alternate, reciprocal, < alter, other: see 
alter,] If. Acting by turns ; alternate. 
The greater [light] to have rule by day, 
The less by night, altern. Miltun, P. L., vii. 348. 
2. In crystal., exhibiting on two parts, an up- 
per and a lower, faces which alternate among 
themselves, but which, when the two parts are 
compared, correspond with each other Altern 
base, in triiion., a term used in distinction from the true 
base. Thus, in oblique triangles, the true base is the sum 
of the sides, in which case the difference of the sides is the 
ii/t,-,;, bae; or inversely, when the true base is the differ- 
ence of the sides, the sum of the sides is the altern base. 
alternacy (al-ter'na-si), . [< alternate: see 
-acy,] The state of quality of being alternate ; 
occurrence or performance by turns. [Rare.] 
The alternacy of rhymes in a stanza gives a variety that 
may support the poet, without the aid of music to a 
greater length. Mitfurd. 
Numerous elisions, which prevent the softening alter- 
nary of vowels and consonants. Walpole, Letters, IV. 649. 
[< L. altemus: see 
alteratet (al'ter-at), v. t. [< ML. alteratus, pp. 
of alterare : see alter.'] To alter, 
alteratet (al'ter-at), a. [< ML. alteratus: see 
the verb.] Altered; changed, 
alteration (al-te-ra'shon), n. [< ML. altera- 
tio(n-) < alterare, ppdlteratm: see alter.] 1. altemalt (al-ter'nal), a. 
The act of altering ; the making of any change ; altern.] Alternate". 
passage from one form or state to another. alternallyt (al-ter'nal-i), adv. Alternately. 
Appius Claudius admitted to the senate the sons of those Their men obeyed 
who had been slaves; by which, and succeeding alterations, AlternaUy both generals' commands. 
that council degenerated into a most corrupt body. Swift. May, tr. of Lucan's Pharealia, iv. 
2. A change effected ; a change of form or state, alternant (al-ter'nant), a. and n. [< L. alter- 
especially one which does not affect the identity nan(t-)s, ppr. of alternare, alternate: see alter- 
of the subject. note, v.] I. a. Alternating; specifically, in geol., 
Love is not love composed of alternate layers, as some rocks. 
Which alters when it alteration ttnds. If. . I n , Hat h., a determinant all the ele- 
Shalc., Sonnets, cxvi. ment8 of eftch row (or eolumn) of which ^ 
3. In mineral., the change by which one mineral functions of one variable different from that of 
substance is converted into another, either (1) any other row (or column), while the elements 
with or (2) without change of chemical compo- of any one column (or row) are like functions 
sition; as, for example, (1) the change of the of the different variables. Such, for example, is 
oxid of copper, cuprite, to the carbonate, mala- 
chite ; or (2) of brookite to rutile, both being 
forms of titanium dioxid. See paramorphism 
and pseudomorphism. 
alterative (al'ter-a-tiv), a. and n. [< ML. al- 
terations, < alterattis, pp. of alterare: see alter.] 
I. a. Causing alteration ; having the power or 
tendency to alter ; especially, in med., having 
the power to restore the healthy functions of 
the body. 
II. n. One of a group of medicines the physi- 
ological action of which is somewhat obscure, 
but which seem to modify the processes of ! r the 8 l k , e ? f their ri , c , hlv col J;ed foliage, 
growth and repair in the various tissues The alternat (al-ter-na ), . [* ., < L. alternare : see 
most important are the compounds of mercurv altfrnatf < M Rotation ; specifically, in diplo- 
iodine, and arsenic. '"<"% . a practice in 
alternation 
And bid alternate passions fall and rise. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 375. 
Billows of alternate hope and despair. 
1>. H'ebster, Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1826. 
Two detestable manners, the indigenous and the im- 
ported, were now in a state of alter ante conflict and amal- 
gamation. Mm-iiulay, Dryden. 
Specifically, in hot.: (a) Placed at unequal heights upon the 
axis: as, alternate leaves, which are 
solitary at the nodes, in distinction 
from opposite or verticillate. (b) Op- 
posite to the intervals between organs: 
as, petals which are alternate with 
sepals, or stamens with petals. 
2. Belonging to a series be- 
tween the two members of 
every pair in which a member 
of another series intervenes; 
having one 'intervening be- 
tween the two of each pair; 
every second : as, to read only 
the alternate lines; the odd 
numbers form one series of 
alternate numerals, the even numbers another. 
3. Consisting of alternating parts or mem- 
bers; proceeding by alternation: as, an al- 
ternate series ; alternate riming ; alternate pro- 
portion. - Alligation alternate. See alUyation. Al- 
tn,, the interim" 
Alternate Leaves. 
\ 
\c 
c- 
sin .'. cos x, 1 
sin y, cos y, 1 
sin 2, cos z, 1. 
Double alternant, a determinant which is an alternant 
" ' , both running through 
opposite sides of it. If the 
two lines are parallel, the 
alternate angles are equal. 
Thus, if the parallels AB, CD A- 
be cut by the line EF, the 
angles AGH, GHD are al- 
ternate angles, as are also 
the angles BOH and GHC. 
Alternate crystalliza- 
tion. See crystallization. 
Alternate generation, (a) 
In '""/.. a term first used by 
Steenstrup to signify the pro- 
duction of animals which are unlike their parents but of 
which certain later generations alternately recurring ex- 
hibit a likeness to those parents ; or, a mode of reproduc- 
tion in which more than one generation, counted f 
,-,-. [NL., < 
L. alternus, alternate (see altern), + NL. anthera, 
anther.] A genus of dwarf tufted plants, nat- 
ural order Amarantaceo! : so called from the 
stamens being alternately fertile and barren. 
They have opposite leaves and small tribracteate flowers 
arranged in heads. Several species are grown in gardens 
as consisting in a series of individuals which seem to repre- 
sent two species alternately reproduced. Huxley defines it 
as an alternation of asexual with sexual generation, in which 
the products of one process differ from those of the other. 
According to Allman, the intercalation of a proper sexual 
reproduction is necessary to constitute true alternate 
generation, (b) In cryptogamic bot., thepassageof a plant 
through a succession of unlike generations before the ini- 
tial form is reproduced. Usually the succession is one 
in which one sexually produced form alternates with an- 
other produced asexually. The alternation of those sex- 
ually produced may be with those parthenogenetically 
in words; dispute with zeal, heat, or anger; of priority of sigTiature, according to some" flxed'rule "TO 
wrangle. as to cut off questions of rank. 
altercation (al-ter-ka'shon), n. [< ME. alter- Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, note to 94. 
cation, < OF. altercation,"< L. altercatio(n-), a alternate (al'ter-nat, formerly al-ter'nat), v. ; 
dispute, < altercari, pp. altercatug, dispute: see pret. and pp. alternated, ppr. alternating. [<L. 
alternatus, pp. of alternare, do by turns, < alter- 
ing, alternate, reciprocal : see altern.] I. trans. 
1. To do or perform by turns, or in succession. 
Who, in their course, 
Melodious hymns about the sovran throne 
Alternate all night long. Milton, P. L., v. 657. 
2. To cause to succeed or follow one another 
in time or place reciprocally; interchange re- 
altercate.] 1. The "a'ct of altercating; warm 
contention in words ; dispute carried on with 
heat or anger ; controversy ; wrangle. 
The altercation was long, and was not brought to a con- 
clusion satisfactory to either party. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vL 
This very uncertainty, producing continual altercations 
and wars, produced great statesmen and warriors. 
J. Adams, Works, IV. 52. 
2. In Bom. law, the method of proceeding on 
the trial of a cause in court by question and 
answer. Colqtthoun.=Sy&. Wrangle, Brawl, etc. See 
quarrel, n. 
altered (al'terd), p. a. Changed; different, spe- 
cificallyfa) In geol., metamorphosed: applied to a rock 
of which the constituent minerals have been changed by 
chemical action subsequently to its formation or depo- 
sition. Rocks are commonly rendered harder and more 
crystalline by such alteration. When softening of crystal- 
line rocks takes place, it is usually accompanied by hydra- 
tation, or the taking up of water. (6) In mineral., applied 
to a mineral whose substance has been changed either 
chemically or molecularly, as a garnet altered to chlorite 
or aragonite altered to calcite. (<) Castrated. 
ciprocally. 
The most high God 
good and evil. 
. alternate* the disposition of 
a Sre,,V Sennons. 
Alternating worry with quiet qualms, 
Bravado with submissiveness. 
Brouming, Ring and Book, I. 63. 
II. intrans. 1. To follow one another in time 
or place reciprocally: generally followed by 
with : as, the flood and ebb tides alternate one 
with the other. 
Rage, shame, and grief alternate in his breast. 
J. Philips, Blenheim, v. 339. 
Pale Want alternated 
sists between the alternate members of the pairs of a 
series of proportionals. Thus, if a : b :: c : d, then by alter- 
nate proportion a : c :: b : d. Alternate quarters, in 
her., quarters diagonally opposite to each other, as the first 
and fourth quarters, and the second and third. They have 
usually the same charges. 
H. n. 1. That which happens by turns with 
something else ; vicissitude. [Bare.] 
Rais'd in pleasure, or repos'd in ease, 
Grateful alternates of substantial peace. 
Prior, Solomon, i. 
2. In political conventions and some other rep- 
resentative bodies, one authorized to take the 
place of another in his absence ; a substitute. 
[United States.] 
ilternately (al-ter'nat-li), adv. In an alternate 
manner, (a) In reciprocal succession ; by turns, so that 
each is succeeded by that which it succeeds, in the same 
way as night follows day and day follows night. 
There is a sort of delight, which is alternately mixed 
with terror and sorrow, in the contemplation of death. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 133. 
(b) With the omission or intervention of one between each 
two: as, read the lines alternately; in French prosody 
male and female rimes occur in couplets alternately, (c) 
In her., according to alternate quarters (which see, under 
alternate). Alternately pinnate, in bot., a term applied 
to a pinnate leaf when the leaflets on one side of the peti- 
ole are not opposite to those upon the other side. 
With Plenty's golden smile. 
Whittier, The Exiles. -. - -- 
alter ego (al'ter e'go). [L. : alter, other, second; 2. To pass from one state, action, or place to arnateness (al-ter nat-nes), . The state or 
ego = E. I: see alter and ego.] Secondself ; an- a second, back to the first, and so on indefi- S^f 11 ? ot e] 8 alternate, or of preceding and 
other self; counterpart; double. Sometimes ap- nitely : used with betweeti, and sometimes with V?" LSvi52' -/ i. x r/ T 
plied as a title to a person who has full powers to act for from: &s,he alternates beticeenbove&nddesv&iT aailon (al-ter-na snon), n. l< L,. a(ferna- 
walpmvlr 1 me faSpani8hviceroywhenei ' erci8ing or f m one extreme to another; the country ho ^' < "i terna . re '.^- ^ernatus: seealternate 
alter 1 idem (al'ter i'dem). [L.: alter other ^nates between woods and open fields-Alter^ M L The act of. alternating, or the state of 
(see alter) ; idem, the same.] Another and the ^ func * lo . n - '? ><"*., action of several variables 
. - . - which on the interchange of any two of them changes its 
same , another precisely similar. sign, but not its absolute value. Thus, (x - y) is an alter- 
alterity (al-ter'j-ti), n. [< ML. alterita(t-)s, < natlng function. 
being alternate; the reciprocal succession of 
things in time or place, or of states or actions ; 
the act of following something and being in 
turn followed by it : as, the alternation of day 
rendered intuitive, or alterity visually represented. 
Coleridge, Notes on Shakspere, II. 295. 
recurringly, in succession of time or place; 
hence, reciprocal. 
The law of nature is alternation for evermore. 
Emerson, Friendship. 
