alternatives
plural of alternative
Source: Wiktionary
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
22 September 2024
(noun) a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; “he uses other people’s ideas as a springboard for his own”; “reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions”; “the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out”
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
