Commute

[imp. & p. p. COMMUTED; p. pr. & vb. n. COMMUTING.] [Lat. commutare, from com, for con, and mutare, to change. See MUTATION.] 1. To put one for the other; to give or receive in exchange;—said specifically of a penalty or punishment exchanged for another of less severity. The sounds water and fire, being once annexed to those two elements, it was certainly more natural to call beings participating of the first “watery,” and the last “fiery,” than to commute the terms, and call them by the reverse. Harris. 2. To pay less for in the gross than would be paid for the separate trips;—used in reference to the privilege of traveling upon a certain route for a specified time; as, to commute the passage for a year.

1Sense 1. To obtain or bargain for exemption.

He . . . thinks it unlawful to commute, and that he is bound to pay his vow in kind. Bp. Taylor.

2Sense 2. To make an arrangement to pay in gross; as, to commute for a year in traveling over a route.