alternation

4 definitions found

alternation - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Permutation \Per`mu*ta"tion\ (p[~e]r`m[-u]"t[=a]"sn[u^]n), n.
     [L. permutatio: cf. F. permutation. See Permute.]
     1. The act of permuting; exchange of the thing for another;
        mutual transference; interchange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The violent convulsions and permutations that have
              been made in property.                --Burke.
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     2. (Math.)
        (a) The arrangement of any determinate number of things,
            as units, objects, letters, etc., in all possible
            orders, one after the other; -- called also
            alternation. Cf. Combination, n., 4.
        (b) Any one of such possible arrangements.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Law) Barter; exchange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Permutation lock, a lock in which the parts can be
        transposed or shifted, so as to require different
        arrangements of the tumblers on different occasions of
        unlocking.
        [1913 Webster]

  Alternation \Al`ter*na"tion\, n. [L. alternatio: cf. F.
     alternation.]
     1. The reciprocal succession of things in time or place; the
        act of following and being followed by turns; alternate
        succession, performance, or occurrence; as, the
        alternation of day and night, cold and heat, summer and
        winter, hope and fear.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Math.) Permutation.
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     3. The response of the congregation speaking alternately with
        the minister. --Mason.
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     Alternation of generation. See under Generation.
        [1913 Webster]

alternation - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  alternation
      n 1: successive change from one thing or state to another and
           back again; "a trill is a rapid alternation between the two
           notes"

alternation - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  97 Moby Thesaurus words for "alternation":
     Lissajous figure, back-and-forth, battledore and shuttlecock, beat,
     chain, coaction, coming and going, commutation,
     complementary distribution, concurrence, consecution, cooperation,
     counterchange, cross fire, cyclicalness, ebb and flow, engagement,
     exchange, fluctuation, flux and reflux, give-and-take, interaction,
     interchange, intercommunication, intercourse, interlacing,
     intermeshing, intermittence, intermittency, intermutation,
     interplay, intertwining, interweaving, interworking, lex talionis,
     measure for measure, mesh, meshing, meter, mutual admiration,
     mutual support, mutual transfer, mutuality, order, oscillation,
     pendulation, pendulum motion, periodicalness, periodicity,
     permutation, piston motion, progression, pulsation, quid pro quo,
     reappearance, reciprocality, reciprocation, reciprocity,
     recurrence, regular wave motion, reoccurrence, repetition,
     retaliation, return, reversion, rhythm, rhythmic play, rotation,
     row, seasonality, seesaw, seesawing, sequel, sequence, series,
     shifting, shuffling, sine wave, something for something,
     succession, teeter, teeter-totter, teeter-tottering, teetering,
     tit for tat, to-and-fro, tottering, train, transposal,
     transposition, undulation, ups and downs, vacillation, variation,
     vicissitude, wavering, wigwag