alternation vs unsteadiness

alternation

noun
  • Ablaut. 

  • A sequence that alternates between positive and negative values; sometimes incorrectly used to mean permutation. 

  • A type of partial truncation of a polygon, polyhedron or tiling in which alternate vertices are removed. 

  • The response of the congregation speaking alternately with the minister. 

  • A construct in a regular expression that can match any of several specified subexpressions. 

  • A pattern by which more than one construct is possible, as with "Alice cooked Bob dinner" and "Alice cooked dinner for Bob". 

  • The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence 

  • The "inclusive or" truth function. 

unsteadiness

noun
  • The quality of being unsteady. 

How often have the words alternation and unsteadiness occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )