Hypertext Webster Gateway: "commute"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Commute \Com*mute"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Commuted}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Commuting}.] [L. commutare, -mutatum; com- + mutare
to change. See {Mutation}.]
To exchange; to put or substitute something else in place of,
as a smaller penalty, obligation, or payment, for a greater,
or a single thing for an aggregate; hence, to lessen; to
diminish; as, to commute a sentence of death to one of
imprisonment for life; to commute tithes; to commute charges
for fares.
The sounds water and fire, being once annexed to those
two elements, it was certainly more natural to call
beings participating of the first ``watery'', and the
last ``fiery'', than to commute the terms, and call
them by the reverse. --J. Harris
The utmost that could be obtained was that her sentence
should be commuted from burning to beheading.
--Macaulay.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Commute \Com*mute"\, v. i.
1. To obtain or bargain for exemption or substitution; to
effect a commutation.
He . . . thinks it unlawful to commute, and that he
is bound to pay his vow in kind. --Jer. Taylor.
2. To pay, or arrange to pay, in gross instead of part by
part; as, to commute for a year's travel over a route.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
commute
v 1: transpose and remain equal in value; of variables or
operators, in mathematics; "These operators commute with
each other" [syn: {transpose}]
2: travel back and forth regularly, as between one's place of
work and home [syn: {travel back and forth}]
3: change the order or arrangement of; "Dyslexics often
transpose letters in a word" [syn: {permute}, {transpose}]
4: exchange a penalty for a less severe one [syn: {convert}, {exchange}]
5: exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind
or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"
"He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches";
"convert holdings into shares" [syn: {change}, {exchange},
{convert}]
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