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Glite Dictionary
alterity

alterity

1 9.9
A state of being different from others, often in culture or identity
  • noun
  • /ˌɔːltəˈrɪti/
  • Formal
translation icon : alteridad
  • The concept of alterity encourages us to appreciate cultures that are different from our own.
  • identity and alterity
  • alterity and otherness
  • cultural alterity

Examples

  • Paul Ricoeur's Gifford Lectures are quite helpful in unpacking this point about alterity.

    Academic text (2000)

  • By "negativity," Jauss refers to the "otherness" or the alterity of a text.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Over time, there have been variations in how this alterity has been understood.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Hence, alterity is not opposite to the self but is in the self.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The defining elements are more or less proximity to self and familiar alterity.

    Academic text (2000)

  • And I guess my question is, do you think that it's important to try to create an experience of alterity in, in the act of translation?

  • Their stories, their small goods are bits and pieces of alterity that bring with them semantic possibility in miniature.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Encountering alterity may bring about all types of feelings related to both egoism and altruism.

    Academic text (2006)

  • "Letters were hence perceived by Sufis as 'pure otherness,' symbolizing essential alterity in connection with God.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Vertov's ascription of human predicates to the camera is premised more on difference and alterity than resemblance.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

strangeness
vsalterity
12 5.5

The feeling that something is unusual or hard to explain

refers to identity or cultural difference rather than mere oddness
otherness
vsalterity
  • Jargon
6 8.0

Being seen as different from most people or from what is usual

is about difference specifically in identity or culture
distinctiveness
vsalterity
4 6.0

A quality that makes someone or something stand out from others

stresses identity or cultural difference rather than a distinguishing trait
separateness
vsalterity
2 6.6

A situation where things are kept apart from others, for example work and personal life

highlights identity or cultural difference rather than mere physical separation
foreignness
vsalterity
1 6.8

A feeling that something is new and not familiar

is about difference in identity or culture more generally rather than only nationality
apartness
vsalterity
1 6.7

A state of being separate from other people

focuses on cultural or identity difference rather than simple isolation
alienness
vsalterity
1 8.1

A feeling of being strange or not belonging

stresses identity or cultural difference rather than personal feeling of exclusion
differentness
vsalterity
1 6.3

The fact that two things are not the same

focuses on identity or cultural difference rather than general unlikeness
distinctness
vsalterity
1 5.6

Being clearly different from others

focuses on identity or cultural difference rather than simple clarity
disparateness
vsalterity
9.2

A big difference between things that are not similar

is about identity or cultural difference rather than only total dissimilarity

Antonyms

uniformity
  • Specialized
18 4.6

The state of being the same in all parts

sameness
10 4.2

A lack of change or variety in daily life

How Different

alterity
  • Formal
1 9.9
difference
∞ 1.0
similarity
157 2.7
sameness
10 4.2

Surface Forms

alterity singular
alterities plural

Morphology

alterity = alter (opaque) = alter + ity

Although formed from Latin alter + -ity, modern English 'alter' is usually known as 'change', and 'alterity' is a specialized term meaning 'otherness', so learners cannot reliably derive the sense from the common base.

Etymology

Alterity comes from the old Latin root alter, which means 'other'. It shares this root with words like alternative and the verb alter, so alterity is the idea of 'otherness' or being different, especially in identity and culture.