Word.ws English Dictionary

alt.

alt. is the abbreviation of alternative.

Meaning of alternative

Adjective

alternative (not comparable)

  1. Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
    • an alternative proposition
    1. Presenting two or more alternatives.
      • alternative conjunctions like or
  2. Other; different from something else.
    • Exploring alternative realities isn't just a game for boys. In 1666, Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, published a utopian fantasy of compelling strangeness.2011 May 11, Sam Leith, “Sam Leith's top 10 alternative realities”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2021
  3. Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
    • alternative medicine; alternative lifestyle; alternative rock
  4. (obsolete) Alternate, reciprocal.
    • He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to all things, and riddeth them from darkneſſe : hee hideth the other ſtarres, and ſheweth them againe : he ordereth the ſeaſons in their alternative courſe : he tempereth the yeere, ariſing ever freſh and new againe, for the benefite and good of the world.1601, Pliny the Elder, “Of the seuen Planets”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The History of the World Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus, translation of Naturalis Historia...

See all 10 meanings of alternative

Prefix

alt.

  1. Indicates a newsgroup, as used in fictional or hypothetical newsgroup names.
    • You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total-loser.1999, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “It's All About the Pentiums”, in Sean Combs (music), Running with Scissors
    • I was trying to say...Danny boy left the room during your hat sentence. He's gone back to alt.elitist.impatient-arrogant-farts-with-nsoh1999 December 21, Christiana, “Scripts available anywhere?”, in alt.fan.eddie-izzard (Usenet)

Noun capitalized: Alt.

Alt.

  1. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of alternative.

Origin of alt.

For the "prefix", the alt.* hierarchy was one of the largest sections of the online discussion system Usenet. In contrast to the "mainstream" hierarchies, such as comp.* which related specifically to computing, alt.* was the "alternative" hierarchy where opinions were shared on a wide range of miscellaneous subjects.

Questions about alt.

What does alt. mean?
Alt. means indicates a newsgroup, as used in fictional or hypothetical newsgroup names.
What is alt. the abbreviation of?
Alt. is the abbreviation of alternative.
What part of speech is alt.?
Alt. can be a prefix or a noun.

Words near alt. in the dictionary

  1. Alt-Tabbing
  2. Alt-Tabs
  3. alt-tech
  4. alt-weeklies
  5. alt-weekly
  6. alt.
  7. alt.1der
  8. alt.1ders
  9. alt.2600er
  10. alt.2600ers
  11. alt.atheist

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alt. (page history and authors); Alt. (page history and authors); alternative (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “alt..” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alt.. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.