/awl'teuhr nay"sheuhn, al'-/ , n.
1. the act or process of alternating or the state of being alternated.
2. alternate succession; repeated rotation: the alternation of the seasons.
3. Elect. a single fluctuation in the absolute value of an alternating current or voltage from zero to a maximum and back to zero, being equal to one half cycle.
4. Ling. variation in the form of a linguistic unit as it occurs in different environments or under different conditions, as between the -ed and -en forms of the past participle in danced and spoken or between the /t/ and /d/ pronunciations of the past tense suffix -ed in hopped and rubbed.
[ 1605-15; alternation- (s. of alternatio ). See ALTERNATE, -ION ]