Meaning

noun one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen

adjective serving or used in place of another

adjective necessitating a choice between mutually exclusive possibilities

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos Proto-Italic *aljos Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *aliteros Latin alter Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -nus Latin alternus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin alternō…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0