different between unlike vs alternative

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?la?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English unlic, unlich, from Old English unl??, un?el?? (“unlike, different, dissimilar, diverse”), from Proto-Germanic *ungal?kaz; surface analysis: un- +? like. Cognate with Dutch ongelijk, German ungleich, Old Norse úlíkr (see there for North Germanic descendants).

Adjective

unlike (comparative more unlike, superlative most unlike)

1. Not like; dissimilar (to); having no resemblance.
2. Unequal.
3. (archaic) Not likely; improbable; unlikely.

Synonyms

• (not like): See also Thesaurus:different

Translations

Preposition

unlike

1. Differently from; not in a like or similar manner.
2. In contrast with; as opposed to.
3. Not typical of one's character or personality.

Translations

Noun

unlike (plural unlikes)

1. Something that is not like something else; something different.
   • 2012, J. Bogen, J. E. McGuire, How Things Are: Studies in Predication and the History of Philosophy and Science

     If the beings are many, then they must be likes and unlikes. But this is impossible, for unlikes cannot be likes, and likes cannot be unlikes.

Etymology 2

From Middle English unliken, unlyken, equivalent to un- +? like.

Verb

unlike (third-person singular simple present unlikes, present participle unliking, simple past and past participle unliked)

1. To dislike.
2. (Internet) To withdraw support for a particular thing, especially on social networking websites.
   • 2009, Ben Zimmer, “On Language: The Age of Undoing”, in The New York Times Magazine, 2009 September 20, page MM8:

     Facebook, for instance, allows you to register approval for a posted message in a very concrete way, by clicking a thumbs-up like button. Toggling off the button results in unliking your previously liked item. Note that this is different from disliking something, since unliking simply returns you to a neutral state.

   • 2010 June 25, "TheKorn" (username), "Re: Pinball: RGP and/or Facebook", in rec.games.pinball, Usenet:

     My comment was more of a backhanded slap at Stern Pinball's Facebook "presence", specifically the garbage "cheap heat" posts. […] It's so inane (and now, so constant) that I wound up "unliking" stern pinball entirely.

Noun

unlike (plural unlikes)

1. (Internet) The act of withdrawing one's like from a post on social media.
   • 2012, Jesse Cannon, Todd Thomas, Get More Fans (page 552)

     Getting an unlike for every 20 likes is common and not something you need to be losing sleep over.

   • 2014, Ekaterina Walter, Jessica Gioglio, The Power of Visual Storytelling (page 13)

     On Facebook, users can also hide anyone in their network, including companies, from their News Feed, which is worse than an unlike, as brands cannot measure how many people still like them but have hidden their status updates […]

Anagrams

• ukelin

English

Etymology

From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin altern?t?vus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin altern? (“interchange, alternate”). Compare alternate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l.?t??(?).n?.t?v/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?l.?t?.n?.t?v/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /?l.?t?.n?.t?v/

Adjective

alternative (not comparable)

1. Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
   1. (linguistics) Presenting two or more alternatives.

      Synonym: disjunctive

2. Other; different from something else.
3. Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.

   alternative medicine; alternative lifestyle; alternative rock

4. (obsolete) Alternate, reciprocal.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

alternative (plural alternatives)

1. A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities. [from 17th c.]
   • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XI:

     ‘The cloister or a betrothed husband?’ I echoed—‘Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?’

2. One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen. [from 17th c.]
   • 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison^[1]:

     Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.

3. The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted. [from 18th c.]
4. (uncountable, music) alternative rock

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:option

Translations

See also

• variant

References

• alternative in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• alternative in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alterna?tive/
• Rhymes: -ive

Adverb

alternative

1. alternatively

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.t??.na.tiv/
• Homophone: alternatives

Adjective

alternative

1. feminine singular of alternatif

Noun

alternative f (plural alternatives)

1. alternative

Further reading

• “alternative” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

alternative

1. inflection of alternativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ive

Adjective

alternative

1. feminine plural of alternativo

Noun

alternative f

1. plural of alternativa

Anagrams

• alternatevi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /al.ter.na??ti?.u?e/, [ä??t??rnä??t?i?u??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /al.ter.na?ti.ve/, [?l?t??rn??t?i?v?]

Adjective

altern?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of altern?t?vus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

alternative

1. inflection of alternativ:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

alternative

1. inflection of alternativ:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

Swedish

Adjective

alternative

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of alternativ.