Occasional vs Alternate - What's the difference?
occasional | alternate |
Occurring or appearing irregularly from time to time.
Not very often.
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=7 *
Created for a specific occasion.
Intended for use as the occasion requires.
Acting in the indicated role from time to time.
Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal.
(mathematics) Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second.
(US) Other; alternative.
(botany) Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.
That which alternates with something else; vicissitude.
* Matthew Prior
(US) A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.
(mathematics) A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.
(US) A replacement of equal or greater value or function.
(heraldry) Figures or tinctures that succeed each other by turns.
To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.
* Grew
To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with .
To vary by turns.
As adjectives the difference between occasional and alternate
is that occasional is occurring or appearing irregularly from time to time while alternate is being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal.As a noun alternate is
that which alternates with something else; vicissitude.As a verb alternate is
to perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.occasional
English
Adjective
(-)citation, passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
Derived terms
{{der3, occasionally , occasional table}}alternate
English
(Webster 1913)Adjective
(-)- And bid alternate passions fall and rise . -
- the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
- Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.
- (Gray)
Noun
(en noun)- Grateful alternates of substantial.
Verb
(alternat)- The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil.
- The flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.
- ''The land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.
