commutation

 
Pronunciation: /kɒmjʊˈteɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1the action or process of commuting a judicial sentence: a commutation of her sentence
  • the conversion of a legal obligation or entitlement into another form, e.g. the replacement of an annuity or series of payments by a single payment: the commutation of dues into money rents making a one-off lump sum in commutation of your pension rights
  • 2the process of commutating an electric current.
  • 3 Mathematics the property of having a commutative relation.

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'exchange, barter', later 'alteration'): from Latin commutatio(n-), from commutare 'exchange, interchange' (see commute). commutation (sense 1) dates from the late 16th century