Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

commutative

Definition of commutative

adjective

  • 1 Mathematics involving the condition that a group of quantities connected by operators gives the same result whatever the order of the quantities involved, e.g. a × b = b × a.
  • 2 rare relating to or involving substitution or exchange.

Origin:

mid 16th century (in the sense 'relating to transactions between people'): from French commutatif, -ive or medieval Latin commutativus, from commutat- 'exchanged', from the verb commutare (see commute)

commutative in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of commutative in the US English dictionary
  |  Cite

Word of the day

epithalamium

/ ˌɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪəm /
noun
a song or poem celebrating a marriage …