alterno

See also: alternó and alternò

Catalan

Verb

alterno

1. first-person singular present indicative of alternar

Galician

Verb

alterno

1. first-person singular present indicative of alternar

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtɛr.no/
• Rhymes: -ɛrno
• Hyphenation: al‧tèr‧no

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin alternus, from alter (“other”).

Adjective

alterno (feminine alterna, masculine plural alterni, feminine plural alterne)

1. alternate, alternating, every other
2. (mathematics, botany) alternate

Etymology 2

Verb

alterno

1. first-person singular present indicative of alternare

Anagrams

• notarle, orlante, terlano

Latin

Etymology

Etymology 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-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin alternō

From alternus (“one after the other, alternate”) + -ō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aɫˈtɛr.noː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [alˈtɛr.no]

Verb

alternō (present infinitive alternāre, perfect active alternāvī, supine alternātum); first conjugation

1. to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate
2. to hesitate, vacillate

Conjugation

   Conjugation of alternō (first conjugation)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	alternō		alternās		alternat		alternāmus		alternātis		alternant
	imperfect	alternābam		alternābās		alternābat		alternābāmus		alternābātis		alternābant
	future	alternābō		alternābis		alternābit		alternābimus		alternābitis		alternābunt
	perfect	alternāvī		alternāvistī		alternāvit		alternāvimus		alternāvistis		alternāvērunt, alternāvēre
	pluperfect	alternāveram		alternāverās		alternāverat		alternāverāmus		alternāverātis		alternāverant
	future perfect	alternāverō		alternāveris		alternāverit		alternāverimus		alternāveritis		alternāverint
passive	present	alternor		alternāris, alternāre		alternātur		alternāmur		alternāminī		alternantur
	imperfect	alternābar		alternābāris, alternābāre		alternābātur		alternābāmur		alternābāminī		alternābantur
	future	alternābor		alternāberis, alternābere		alternābitur		alternābimur		alternābiminī		alternābuntur
	perfect	alternātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	alternātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	alternātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	alternem		alternēs		alternet		alternēmus		alternētis		alternent
	imperfect	alternārem		alternārēs		alternāret		alternārēmus		alternārētis		alternārent
	perfect	alternāverim		alternāverīs		alternāverit		alternāverīmus		alternāverītis		alternāverint
	pluperfect	alternāvissem		alternāvissēs		alternāvisset		alternāvissēmus		alternāvissētis		alternāvissent
passive	present	alterner		alternēris, alternēre		alternētur		alternēmur		alternēminī		alternentur
	imperfect	alternārer		alternārēris, alternārēre		alternārētur		alternārēmur		alternārēminī		alternārentur
	perfect	alternātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	alternātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		alternā		—		—		alternāte		—
	future	—		alternātō		alternātō		—		alternātōte		alternantō
passive	present	—		alternāre		—		—		alternāminī		—
	future	—		alternātor		alternātor		—		—		alternantor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		alternāre			alternārī			alternāns			—
future		alternātūrum esse			alternātum īrī			alternātūrus			alternandus
perfect		alternāvisse			alternātum esse			—			alternātus
future perfect		—			alternātum fore			—			—
perfect potential		alternātūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		alternandī		alternandō		alternandum		alternandō		alternātum		alternātū

Derived terms

• alternāmentum
• alternātim
• alternātiō
• alternātus

Descendants

• Catalan: alternar
• English: alternate
• French: alterner
• Friulian: alternâ
• Galician: alternar
• Italian: alternare
• Occitan: alternar
• Piedmontese: alterné
• Portuguese: alternar
• Spanish: alternar

References

• “alterno”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “alterno”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “alterno”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Verb

alterno

1. first-person singular present indicative of alternar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈteɾno/ [al̪ˈt̪eɾ.no]
• Rhymes: -eɾno
• Syllabification: al‧ter‧no

Etymology 1

Etymology 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 alternusbor.

Spanish alterno

Borrowed from Latin alternus.

Adjective

alterno (feminine alterna, masculine plural alternos, feminine plural alternas)

1. alternate, alternative

   Synonym: alternativo

Derived terms

• corriente alterna

Related terms

• alternar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

alterno

1. first-person singular present indicative of alternar

Further reading

• “alterno”, 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

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish alterno, from Latin alternus.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔalˈteɾno/ [ʔɐlˈt̪ɛɾ.n̪o]
• Rhymes: -eɾno
• Syllabification: al‧ter‧no

Noun

alterno (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜆᜒᜇ᜔ᜈᜓ)

1. alternate; alternative; substitute

   Synonyms: alternatibo, kahalili, panghalili, sustituto

Related terms

• adultera
• adulterado
• adulterante
• adulterasyon
• adultero
• adulteryo
• alterasyon
• alternasyon
• alternatiba
• alternatibo
• altruwismo
• altruwista

Further reading

• “alterno”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972), Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 27