commutation

noun

com·​mu·​ta·​tion ˌkäm-yə-ˈtā-shən 

-yü-

1

: exchange, trade

2

: replacement

specifically : a substitution of one form of payment or charge for another

a commutation by money payment for the exacted service

3

: a change of a legal penalty or punishment to a lesser one

commutation of a death sentence

4

: an act or process of commuting

… a ridge of hills makes daily commutation to San Francisco arduous.

—The New York Times

5

: the action of commutating

Synonyms

• back-and-forth
• barter
• dicker
• exchange
• quid pro quo
• swap
• trade
• trade-off
• truck

Examples of commutation in a Sentence

He appealed for a commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment.

an international commutation of food for oil

Recent Examples on the Web

In the end, President Chaim Herzog, against the recommendations of Shin Bet and the Justice Ministry, signed an extraordinary series of pardons and commutations for the plotters. —Mark Mazzetti Jonathan Davis Anna Diamond David Mason, New York Times, 16 May 2024

The pardon recipients include a woman who has since earned her doctorate, a business owner and community members involved in their churches, while one of the commutation recipients will no longer have to serve a life prison sentence. —Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English commutacion, from Anglo-French, from Latin commutation-, commutatio, from commutare

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing commutation

• commutation ticket

Kids Definition

commutation

noun

com·​mu·​ta·​tion ˌkäm-yə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: exchange entry 1 sense 2, replacement

2

: a reduction of a legal penalty

3

: an act of commuting

4

: the process of reversing the direction of an electric circuit