commute
UK: kəˈmjuːt | US: kəˈmjuːt
vi. to travel regularly between home and work or school
vt. to reduce a judicial sentence to a less severe one
vt. to exchange or substitute (e.g., a payment or penalty)
commute = com<together> + mute<change>
- com: Latin prefix meaning "together" or "with."
- mute: Derived from Latin mutare ("to change"), reflecting the idea of transformation or exchange.
Etymology Origin:
The word "commute" originates from Latin commutare ("to change altogether"). Initially used in legal contexts (15th century) to mean "reduce a penalty," it later expanded to describe the exchange of one thing for another (e.g., money for goods). By the 19th century, it adopted its modern sense of "regular travel," metaphorically reflecting the change between locations (home/work). The core logic ties all meanings to the concept of transformation—whether of sentences, payments, or daily routes.
She commutes to the city by train every weekday.
The judge agreed to commute his sentence from life imprisonment to 20 years.
You can commute your pension into a lump-sum payment.
His daily commute takes nearly two hours.
The company offers subsidies for employees who commute via public transport.