Ăl'ter-ā'tion, n.
n. [Fr. altération, Pr. alteracio.]
Sense 1. The act of altering, making different, or varying in some particular. “Alteration hath in it inconveniences.” Hooker.
Sense 2. The state of being altered; the change made, or the loss or acquisition of qualities not essential to the form or nature of a thing.
Appius Claudius admitted to the senate the sons of those who had been slaves; by which, and succeeding alterations, that council degenerated into a most corrupt body. Swift.