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the act or process of ; the state of being :
alteration will improve the dress.
a change; modification or adjustment:
there has been an alteration in our plans.
contemporary examples

close was so distraught by the alteration that she initially refused to take part in the re-shoot.
return of the bunny boiler: fatal attraction’s world stage premiere nico hines march 25, 2014

if they liked it, fine; if not, they would often suggest an alteration.
more juicy election details the daily beast january 10, 2010

historical examples

they had done their best; nothing more was possible in the way of addition or alteration—for good or ill the die was cast.
a college girl mrs. george de horne vaizey

if, upon perusal of them, you think any alteration necessary, it shall be made.
clarissa, volume 1 (of 9) samuel richardson

the colour will not be subject to any alteration when the distance and the quality of air have a reciprocal proportion.
a treatise on painting leonardo da vinci

but, here, it must be distinctly understood, is no alteration produced by climate.
life: its true genesis r. w. wright

besides the alteration that two years sometimes makes in a man, jasper had made a considerable alteration on himself.
away in the wilderness r.m. ballantyne

every shade of alteration in them i was familiar with, for their changes were not many.
wilfrid c-mbermede george macdonald

this necessarily results in the alteration or omission of these features, and hence arise many modifications of original forms.
origin and development of form and ornament in ceramic art. william henry holmes

i certainly was very much struck at his alteration for the worse.
vivian grey earl of beaconsfield, benjamin disraeli

noun
an adjustment, change, or modification
the act of altering or state of being altered
n.

late 14c., “action of altering,” from old french alteracion (14c.) “change, alteration,” and directly from medieval latin alterationem (nominative alteratio), noun of action from past participle stem of late latin alterare (see alter). meaning “change in character or appearance” is from 1530s; that of “change in ready-made clothes to suit a customer’s specifications” is from 1901. related: alterations.