ALTERNATIVES
Noun
alternatives
plural of alternative
Source: Wiktionary
ALTERNATIVE
Al*ter"na*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. alternatif.]
1. Offering a choice of two things.
2. Disjunctive; as, an alternative conjunction.
3. Alternate; reciprocal. [Obs.] Holland.
Al*ter"na*tive, n. Etym: [Cf. F. alternative, LL. alternativa.]
1. An offer of two things, one of which may be chosen, but not both;
a choice between two things, so that if one is taken, the other must
be left.
There is something else than the mere alternative of absolute
destruction or unreformed existence. Burke.
2. Either of two things or propositions offered to one's choice. Thus
when two things offer a choice of one only, the two things are called
alternatives.
Having to choose between two alternatives, safety and war, you
obstinately prefer the worse. Jowett (Thucyd. ).
3. The course of action or the thing offered in place of another.
If this demand is refused the alternative is war. Lewis.
With no alternative but death. Longfellow.
4. A choice between more than two things; one of several things
offered to choose among.
My decided preference is for the fourth and last of thalternatives.
Gladstone.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition