Question

Which meaning of the root alter helps define the word alternate as in this sentence?

Answer 1

Because the traffic was so heavy, they had to take an alternate route to school. the answer is other

Answer 2

The root "alter" comes from the Latin, which literally means "other"; then through French influence, probably from the times when the Norman invasion to England was occurring, it settled as alteration, referring to the process of changing, being changed , modified, or as the difference derived through changes. Hence "alternate" conveys reciprocity, in the sense of interchanging each other's places one after another, or basically "every other".