commutation

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Substitution of one thing for another

   Substitution of one thing for another; interchange.

2. 2

   Specifically, the substitution of one kind of payment for another, especially a switch to…

   Specifically, the substitution of one kind of payment for another, especially a switch to monetary payment from obligations of labour.

   • Professor Postan has argued in favour of a rapid move towards commutation in the twelfth century which slackened or even went into reverse in the course of the thirteenth.
3. 3

   The change to a lesser penalty or punishment by the State

   • Monsieur the Marquis de Sade [was] now holed up in one of his châteaux while his wife worked for the commutation of a sentence passed on him recently for poisoning and buggery.
4. ›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Substitution, as a means of discriminating between phonemes.

   2. 5

      The reversal of an electric current.

   3. 6

      A passing from one state to another

      A passing from one state to another; change; alteration; mutation.

   4. 7

      The act of giving one thing for another

      The act of giving one thing for another; barter; exchange.

   5. 8

      The process or habit of journeying to and from work on a regular basis

      The process or habit of journeying to and from work on a regular basis; commuting.

      • but there was no city officer to stand forth and ask for it — not even so much as to require frequent trains, low fares, and commutations on that part of the road which ran within the city limits.

The neighborhood

• neighborcommutator