Alter

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: al=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

Alter, v. t. [F. altérer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter other, alius other. Cf. Else, Other.].

•  To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "It gilds all objects, but it alters none."  [1913 Webster]

  "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."  [1913 Webster]
•  To agitate; to affect mentally.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  To geld.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Change, Alter.

Alter, v. i. 

 To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure.  Dan. vi. 8.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Alter, v.
1 tr. & intr. make or become different; change.
2 tr. US & Austral. castrate or spay.

Derivative

alterable adj. alteration n.

Etymology

ME f. OF alterer f. LL alterare f. L alter other

THESAURUS

Alter

abate, accommodate, adapt, adjust, adjust to, alter into, ameliorate, assuage, be changed, be converted into, be renewed, become, better, bottom out, box in, break, break up, castrate, change, change into, checker, chop, chop and change, circumscribe, come about, come around, come round, come round to, condition, convert, deform, degenerate, denature, deteriorate, deviate, diminish, diverge, diversify, emasculate, eunuchize, evolve into, fall into, fit, fix, flop, geld, haul around, hedge, hedge about, improve, jibe, lapse into, leaven, limit, meliorate, melt into, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mutate, narrow, open into, overthrow, palliate, pass into, qualify, re-create, realign, rebuild, reconstruct, redesign, reduce, refit, reform, regulate by, remake, remodel, renew, reshape, restrain, restrict, restructure, revamp, revise, revive, ring the changes, ripen into, run into, season, set conditions, set limits, settle into, shift, shift into, shift the scene, shuffle the cards, soften, spay, subvert, swerve, tack, take a turn, temper, transform, turn, turn aside, turn into, turn the corner, turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn to, turn upside down, undergo a change, unsex, vary, veer, warp, work a change, worsen

ROGET THESAURUS

Alter

Change

VB change, alter, vary, wax and wane, modulate, diversify, qualify, tamper with, turn, shift, veer, tack, chop, shuffle, swerve, warp, deviate, turn aside, evert, intervert, pass to, take a turn, turn the corner, resume, work a change, modify, vamp, superinduce, transform, transfigure, transmute, transmogrify, transume, metamorphose, ring the changes, innovate, introduce new blood, shuffle the cards, give a turn to, give a color to, influence, turn the scale, shift the scene, turn over a new leaf, recast, reverse, disturb, convert into.

Impotence

VB be impotent, not have a leg to stand on, vouloir rompre l'anguille au genou, vouloir prendre la lune avec les dents, collapse, faint, swoon, fall into a swoon, drop, go by the board, go by the wayside, go up in smoke, end in smoke, render powerless, deprive of power, disable, disenable, disarm, incapacitate, disqualify, unfit, invalidate, deaden, cramp, tie the hands, double up, prostrate, paralyze, muzzle, cripple, becripple, maim, lame, hamstring, draw the teeth of, throttle, strangle, garrotte, garrote, ratten, silence, sprain, clip the wings of, put hors de combat, spike the guns, take the wind out of one's sails, scotch the snake, put a spoke in one's wheel, break the neck, break the back, unhinge, unfit, put out of gear, unman, unnerve, enervate, emasculate, castrate, geld, alter, neuter, sterilize, fix, shatter, exhaust, weaken.