alter Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
modify; change.
- The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city
- The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue
verb become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence
vary; change.
- her mood changes in accordance with the weather
- The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season
verb make an alteration to
- This dress needs to be altered
verb insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
interpolate; falsify.
verb remove the ovaries of
castrate; spay; neuter.
- Is your cat spayed?

F. altérer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter other, alius other. Cf. Else, Other.

imperfect & past participle Altered present participle & verbal noun Altering

To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify. "To alter the king's course." "To alter the condition of a man." "No power in Venice can alter a decree." Shak.
It gilds all objects, but it alters none. Pope.

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Ps. lxxxix. 34.
To agitate; to affect mentally. Obs. Milton.
To geld. Colloq. Syn. -- Change, Alter. Change is generic and the stronger term. It may express a loss of identity, or the substitution of one thing in place of another; alter commonly expresses a partial change, or a change in form or details without destroying identity.

To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure. "The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not." Dan. vi. 8.