alterne

A1L1T1E1R1N1E1

noun

One of two or more plant communities that alternate with one another across a landscape with sharp boundaries, lacking an ecotone.

OriginFrench alterne →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

nounalterne (plural alternes)

plural alternes

  1. biologyOne of two or more plant communities that alternate with one another across a landscape with sharp boundaries, lacking an ecotone.

    Needle grass forms alternes not only with little bluestem but also less extensively with Sporobolus heterolepis.

    1934, J.E. Weaver, T. J. Fitzpatrick, “The Prairie”, in Ecological Monographs, volume 4, number 2, archived from the original on 25 May 2024, page 155
adjectivealterne (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of altern.

Origin

  1. Frenchalterne
  2. Frenchalterne
  3. Englishalterne

Unadapted borrowing from French alterne.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

eternalenteralteneralTeleran
Cite this entry
APA

alterne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterne

MLA

“alterne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterne. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alterne,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterne.

Source: alterne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.