commute

 
Pronunciation: /kəˈmjuːt/

verb

  • 1 [no object] travel some distance between one’s home and place of work on a regular basis: he commuted from Corby to Kentish Town
  • 2 [with object] reduce (a judicial sentence, especially a sentence of death) to another less severe one: the governor commuted the sentence to fifteen years' imprisonment
  • (commute something for/into) change one kind of payment or obligation for (another): tithes were commuted into an annual sum varying with the price of corn
  • replace (an annuity or other series of payments) with a single payment: if he had commuted some of his pension he would have received £330,000
  • 3 [no object] Mathematics (of two operations or quantities) have a commutative relation: operators which do not commute with each other

noun

  • a regular journey of some distance to and from one’s place of work: the daily commute

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'interchange (two things')): from Latin commutare, from com- 'altogether' + mutare 'to change'. commute (sense 1 of the verb) originally meant to buy and use a commutation ticket, the US term for a season ticket (because the daily fare is commuted to a single payment)