What is the difference between alter and change?
alter | change |
To change the form or structure of.
* Bible, Psalms lxxxix. 34
* Shakespeare
* Alexander Pope
To become different.
To tailor clothes to make them fit.
To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).
(obsolete) To agitate; to affect mentally.
To become something different.
(ergative) To make something into something different.
* {{quote-magazine, title=The climate of Tibet: Pole-land
, date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=80
, magazine=(The Economist)
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= To replace.
To replace one's clothing.
To transfer to another vehicle (train, bus, etc.)
(archaic) To exchange.
* 1610 , , by (William Shakespeare), act 1 scene 2
* 1662 , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
To change hand while riding (a horse).
(countable) The process of becoming different.
* {{quote-magazine, title=The climate of Tibet: Pole-land
, date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=80
, magazine=(The Economist)
(uncountable) Small denominations of money given in exchange for a larger denomination.
(countable) A replacement, e.g. a change of clothes
* {{quote-news
, year=2010
, date=December 29
, author=Mark Vesty
, title=Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal
, work=BBC
(uncountable) Money given back when a customer hands over more than the exact price of an item.
(countable) A transfer between vehicles.
(baseball) A change-up pitch.
(lb) Any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale.
* Holder
A place where merchants and others meet to transact business; an exchange.
A public house; an alehouse.
* Burt
Change is a synonym of alter.
In transitive terms the difference between alter and change
is that alter is to castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal) while change is to replace.In intransitive terms the difference between alter and change
is that alter is to become different while change is to transfer to another vehicle (train, bus, etc..As a noun change is
the process of becoming different.alter
English
Alternative forms
* altre (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
- No power in Venice can alter a decree.
- It gilds all objects, but it alters none.
- (Milton)
Derived terms
* alterer * alterability * alterative * alterable * alterablyExternal links
* *Anagrams
* * * * * ----change
English
Verb
(chang)citation, passage=Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.}}
Catherine Clabby
Focus on Everything, passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
- At the first sight / they have changed eyes. (exchanged looks )
- I would give any thing to change a word or two with this person.
- to change a horse
Synonyms
* (to make something different) alter, modify * (to make something into something different) transformDerived terms
* changeable * change by reversal * change course * change direction * changeful * change out * change hands * change horses in midstream * change integrity * changeling * change one's mind * change one's tune * change places * change tack * change the channel * change the subject * change up * chop and change * everchanging * get changed * leopard change his spots * presto change-o *Noun
(en noun)citation, passage=Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change , the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.}}
- The product is undergoing a change in order to improve it.
- Can I get change for this $100 bill please?
citation, page= , passage=After beating champions Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting XI in an effort to freshen things up, with games against Birmingham and Manchester City to come in the next seven days.}}
- A customer who pays with a 10-pound note for a £9 item receives one pound in change .
- The train journey from Bristol to Nottingham includes a change at Birmingham.
- Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.
- They call an alehouse a change .