altered
AdjectiveWordNet 3.0
Adjective (3)
- changed in form or character without becoming something else“the altered policy promised success”“following an altered course we soon found ourselves back in civilization”“he looked...with clouded eyes and with an altered manner of breathing — Charles Dickens”
- having testicles or ovaries removedSynonyms: neutered
- changed in order to improve or made more fit for a particular purpose“seeds precisely adapted to the area”“instructions altered to suit the children's different ages”Synonyms: adapted
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Alter \Al"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Altered; p. pr. & vb. n. Altering.] [F. alt['e]rer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter other, alius other. Cf. Else, Other.]
1.To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify. "To alter the king's course." "To alter the condition of a man." "No power in Venice can alter a decree." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
It gilds all objects, but it alters none.— Pope.[1913 Webster]
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.— Ps. lxxxix. 34.[1913 Webster]
2.To agitate; to affect mentally. [Obs.] --Milton. [1913 Webster]
3.To geld. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
Usage: Change is generic and the stronger term. It may express a loss of identity, or the substitution of one thing in place of another; alter commonly expresses a partial change, or a change in form or details without destroying identity. [1913 Webster]