alternate
We alternate alternate designs to keep things fresh.
The sentence indicates that we switch between various designs to maintain novelty.
Meanings
to switch back and forth between two states or actions
- We alternate between hiking and resting.
- The traffic lights alternate red and green every thirty seconds.
occurring every other one; or, serving as a substitute
- We meet on alternate Tuesdays.
- Use the alternate route during the road closure.
Word origin
From Latin alternāre ('to do by turns'), from alter ('one of two, the other'). The verb (with end-stress) and the adjective/noun (with front-stress) both descend from the same Latin form; the stress shift in modern English is the trochaic noun rule operating, the same pattern that distinguishes 'abstract', 'separate', and 'moderate'.
Fun fact
American English famously blurs the line between 'alternate' (every other) and 'alternative' (one of two options) for the adjective sense — a usage British grammarians have flagged as nonstandard since the 1960s.