Etymology From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). By surface analysis, alternate + -ive. Compare alternate.
1
Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
an alternative proposition
There are two alternative theories as to why this phenomenon occurs.
2 more examples
Reason would seem to dictate that it was an alternative offer,—either to receive $15,000 if the grantor perform the condition or $12,000 if he did not perform the condition.1911, “Phillips v. Rohrer”, in Penn State Law Review, volume 16, →OCLC, page 46:
Who is right, Augusto or Unamuno? In general critics have seen this confrontation as offering an alternative choice: either we are free or we are predetermined.2014, C.A. Longhurst, Unamuno's Theory of the Novel, Routledge, →ISBN, page 162:
2
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Presenting two or more alternatives.
alternative conjunctions like or
3
Other; different from something else.
Exploring alternative realities isn't just a game for boys. In 1666, Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, published a utopian fantasy of compelling strangeness.2011 May 11, Sam Leith, “Sam Leith's top 10 alternative realities”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2021:
4
Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
alternative medicine; alternative lifestyle; alternative rock
He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to all things, and riddeth them from darkneſſe : hee hideth the other ſtarres, and ſheweth them againe : he ordereth the ſeaſons in their alternative courſe : he tempereth the yeere, ariſing ever freſh and new againe, for the benefite and good of the world.1601, Pliny the Elder, “Of the seuen Planets”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The History of the World Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus, translation of Naturalis Historia (in Classical Latin), page 3:
Etymology From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). By surface analysis, alternate + -ive. Compare alternate.
1
A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities.
I gave you the alternative; you decided to stay.
“The cloister or a betrothed husband?” I echoed—“Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?”1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [XI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 268:
2
One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen.
Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison:
3
The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
A non-offensive word or phrase that serves as a replacement for a word deemed offensive or unacceptable, though not as a euphemism.
Disability activists discourage the use of the words "crazy" and "insane" due to their negative connections to mental health, suggesting alternatives such as "wild", "silly", or "out of this world", which do not relate to mental health.