alt

alt (ælt)
—adj
1.	(esp of vocal music) high in pitch
2.	of or relating to the octave commencing with the G above the top line of the treble staff
—n
3.	in alt in the octave directly above the treble staff
[C16: from Provençal, from Latin altus high, deep]

ALT (ā'ěl-tē')
n.
Alanine aminotransferase; an enzyme in serum and body tissues that catalyzes the transfer of amino acid groups from l-alanine to 2-ketoglutarate or the reverse, thus allowing nitrogen to be excreted or incorporated into other compounds.

alt

/awlt/
1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or clone keyboard; see bucky bits, sense 2 (though typical PC usage does not simply set the 0200 bit).
2. n. The `option' key on a Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked PCs before coming to the Mac (see also feature key, which is sometimes _incorrectly_ called `alt').
3. n.,obs. [PDP-10; often capitalized to ALT] Alternate name for the ASCII ESC character (ASCII 0011011), after the keycap labeling on some older terminals; also `altmode' (/awlt'mohd/). This character was almost never pronounced `escape' on an ITS system, in TECO, or under TOPS-10 -- always alt, as in "Type alt alt to end a TECO command" or "alt-U onto the system" (for "log onto the [ITS] system"). This usage probably arose because alt is more convenient to say than `escape', especially when followed by another alt or a character (or another alt _and_ a character, for that matter).
4. The alt hierarchy on Usenet, the tree of newsgroups created by users without a formal vote and approval procedure. There is a myth, not entirely implausible, that alt is acronymic for "anarchists, lunatics, and terrorists"; but in fact it is simply short for "alternative".

alt definition

character
/awlt/ 1. The alt modifier key on many keyboards, including the IBM PC. On some keyboards and operating systems, (but not the IBM PC) the alt key sets bit 7 of the character generated.
See bucky bits.
2. The "clover" or "Command" key on a Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked PCs before coming to the Mac (see also feature key). Some Mac hackers, confusingly, reserve "alt" for the Option key (and it is so labelled on some Mac II keyboards).
3. (Obsolete PDP-10; often "ALT") An alternate name for the ASCII ESC character (Escape, ASCII 27), after the keycap labelling on some older terminals; also "altmode" (/awlt'mohd/). This character was almost never pronounced "escape" on an ITS system, in TECO or under TOPS-10, always alt, as in "Type alt alt to end a TECO command" or "alt-U onto the system" (for "log onto the [ITS] system"). This usage probably arose because alt is easier to say.
4. One of the Usenet newsgroup hierarchies. It was founded by John Gilmore and Brian Reid. The alt hierarchy is special in that anyone can create new groups here without going though the normal voting proceduers, hence the regular appearence of new groups with names such as "alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork".
[Jargon File]
(1997-04-12)

Alt alternate