1. a person who alternates between two or more activities, jobs, or states
Usage: often used in British English in educational contexts
2. in mathematics and logic, a quantity or expression that changes sign under certain permutations
Usage: technical, mathematics

1. alternating or occurring in turns
Usage: rare; archaic

Examples

• The alternant spent half the week in the office and half in the classroom.
• In the work-study program, each alternant rotates between practical experience and academic study.
• The alternant polynomial changes sign when two variables are swapped.
• The company hired several alternants for the summer internship program.
• An alternant arrangement of colors creates a striped pattern.