com|mute

com|mute «kuh MYOOT», verb, -mut|ed, -mut|ing, noun.

–v.t.

1. to change (an obligation or penalty) to an easier one: »

The governor commuted the prisoner's sentence of death to one of life imprisonment.

2. to exchange; substitute; interchange.

3. = commutate. (Cf. ↑commutate)

–v.i.

1. U.S. to travel regularly to and from work usually by train, bus, or automobile, especially between suburb and downtown: »

He commutes to work by bus each morning.

2. to serve as a substitute; compensate.

3. Mathematics. to give the same result in whatever order two numbers are added or multiplied: »

In a + b or a × b, a and b commute.

4. to pay a single sum as an equivalent for a number of successive payments, especially at a reduced price.

–n.

Informal. a commuting to work; commutation: »

The daily commute,…exerts a constant drain on their energies (Wall Street Journal).

╂[< Latin commūtāre < com- altogether + mūtāre changRB>