alterne

See also: alterné

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French alterne.

Noun

alterne (plural alternes)

1. (ecology) One of two or more plant communities that alternate with one another across a landscape with sharp boundaries, lacking an ecotone.
   • 1934, J.E. Weaver, T. J. Fitzpatrick, “The Prairie”, in Ecological Monographs‎^[1], volume 4, number 2, archived from the original on 25 May 2024, page 155:

     Needle grass forms alternes not only with little bluestem but also less extensively with Sporobolus heterolepis.

Adjective

alterne (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of altern.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈterne/
• Rhymes: -erne
• Syllabification: al‧ter‧ne

Adverb

alterne

1. alternately

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.tɛʁn/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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Verb

alterne

1. inflection of alterner:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

Verb

alterne

1. inflection of alternar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtɛr.ne/
• Rhymes: -ɛrne
• Hyphenation: al‧tèr‧ne

Adjective

alterne

1. feminine plural of alterno

Anagrams

• lentare, tenerla

Latin

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

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

Latin -ē

Latin alternē

From alternus + -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aɫˈtɛr.neː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [alˈtɛr.ne]

Adverb

alternē (not comparable)

1. (rare) alternately

   Synonyms: alternīs, invicem, vicibus

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aɫˈtɛr.nɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [alˈtɛr.ne]

Adjective

alterne

1. vocative masculine singular of alternus

References

• “alterne”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “alterne”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: al‧ter‧ne

Verb

alterne

1. inflection of alternar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈteɾne/ [al̪ˈt̪eɾ.ne]
• Rhymes: -eɾne
• Syllabification: al‧ter‧ne

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

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-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin alternārelbor.

Spanish alternardeverb.

Spanish alterne

Deverbal from alternar.

Noun

alterne m (plural alternes)

1. socializing, hanging out

Derived terms

• bar de alterne
• club de alterne
• local de alterne

Etymology 2

Verb

alterne

1. inflection of alternar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “alterne”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025