commute

[kuh-myoot] /kəˈmyut/
verb (used with object), commuted, commuting.
1.
to change (a prison sentence or other penalty) to a less severe one:
The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
2.
to exchange for another or for something else; give and take reciprocally; interchange.
3.
to change:
to commute base metal into gold.
4.
to change (one kind of payment) into or for another, as by substitution.
verb (used without object), commuted, commuting.
5.
to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and back:
He commutes to work by train.
6.
to make substitution.
7.
to serve as a substitute.
8.
to make a collective payment, especially of a reduced amount, as an equivalent for a number of payments.
9.
Mathematics. to give the same result whether operating on the left or on the right.
noun
10.
a trip made by commuting:
It's a long commute from his home to his office.
11.
an act or instance of commuting.
Origin
1400-50; 1885-90 for def 5; late Middle English < Latin commūtāre to change, replace, exchange, equivalent to com- com- + mūtāre to change
Related forms
uncommuted, adjective
Can be confused
commute, forgive, pardon (see synonym study at pardon)
Examples from the web for commute
  • Click an area of the map for commute and travel options.
  • In a city of ubiquitous crowds, their commute remains a bastion of anonymity.
  • Focus your search on a slightly longer commute to campus and see what you find.
  • The invention of the streetcar made it possible for residents to commute from their homes to their city jobs.
  • Something to think about during your morning commute.
  • Its first project may be the building of a light-rail link in the northern suburbs, presumably to help the governor's commute.
  • Send us your story whether it took place in the woods or on your daily commute.
  • Gardening clubs might attract upwardly mobile professionals who would rather spend their commute time growing their meals.
  • For news junkies, a half-hour commute can be an interminable time to be out of the loop.
  • They live at home and commute to the campus each day by car.
British Dictionary definitions for commute

commute

/kəˈmjuːt/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to travel some distance regularly between one's home and one's place of work
2.
(transitive) to substitute; exchange
3.
(transitive) (law) to reduce (a sentence) to one less severe
4.
to pay (an annuity) at one time, esp with a discount, instead of in instalments
5.
(transitive) to transform; change: to commute base metal into gold
6.
(intransitive) to act as or be a substitute
7.
(intransitive) to make a substitution; change
noun
8.
a journey made by commuting
Derived Forms
commutable, adjective
commutability, commutableness, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Latin commutāre to replace, from com- mutually + mutāre to change
Word Origin and History for commute
v.

mid-15c., "to change, transform," from Latin commutare "to often change, to change altogether," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + mutare "to change" (see mutable). Sense of "make less severe" is 1630s. Sense of "go back and forth to work" is 1889, from commutation ticket "season pass" (on a railroad, streetcar line, etc.), from commute in its sense of "to change one kind of payment into another" (1795), especially "to combine a number of payments into a single one." Related: Commuted; commuting.

commute in Science
commute
  (kə-myt')   
To yield the same result regardless of order. For example, numbers commute under addition, which is a commutative operation. Generally, any two operators H and G commute if their commutator is zero, i.e. HG - GH = 0.