commutation

[ kom-yuh-tey-shuh n ]
/ ˌkɒm yəˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

the act of substituting one thing for another; substitution; exchange.
the changing of a prison sentence or other penalty to another less severe.
the act of commuting, as to and from a place of work.
the substitution of one kind of payment for another.
Electricity. the act or process of commutating.
Also called commutation test. Linguistics. the technique, especially in phonological analysis, of substituting one linguistic item for another while keeping the surrounding elements constant, used as a means of determining the constituent units in a sequence and their contrasts with other units.

Origin of commutation

1400–50; late Middle English commutacioun < Latin commūtātiōn- (stem of commutātiō) change. See commute, -ation

OTHER WORDS FROM commutation

pro·com·mu·ta·tion, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for commutation

British Dictionary definitions for commutation

commutation
/ (ˌkɒmjʊˈteɪʃən) /

noun

a substitution or exchange
  1. the replacement of one method of payment by another
  2. the payment substituted
the reduction in severity of a penalty imposed by law
the process of commutating an electric current
US the travelling done by a commuter