You can picture an alternative as the other door — there's the one thing in front of you, and then a second choice you could take instead of it. The heart of the word is that 'instead of': not just any option, but one offered as a stand-in for the first.
From the word’s history
From Latin 'alter' = the other (of two). The word carries that 'one or the other' core: a second thing standing opposite the first.
源自拉丁文 alter，意為「兩者中的另一個」。這個字帶著「二選一」的底色：一個東西站在原本那個的對面，當作另一條路。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'alternative'
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
alternativeadj/ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv/
- 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
human-scienceslinguisticssciencesRelating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
- 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.
- 4
Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
- alternative medicine; alternative lifestyle; alternative rock
- 5
obsoleteAlternate, reciprocal.
- 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.
alternativenoun/ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv/
- 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?”
- 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.
- 3
The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
- 4
entertainmentlifestylemusicalternative rock
- 5
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.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。