First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
1commute
verb com·mute \kə-ˈmyüt\
: to travel regularly to and from a place and especially between where you live and where you work
law : to change (a punishment) to a less severe one
com·mut·edcom·mut·ing
Full Definition of COMMUTE
transitive verb
2
: to convert (as a payment) into another form
3
: to change (a penalty) to another less severe <commute a death sentence to life in prison>
4
intransitive verb
1
2
: to pay in gross
3
: to travel back and forth regularly (as between a suburb and a city)
4
: to yield the same mathematical result regardless of order —used of two elements undergoing an operation or of two operations on elements
— com·mut·able \-ˈmyü-tə-bəl\ adjective
See commute defined for English-language learners
See commute defined for kids
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Origin of COMMUTE
Middle English, from Latin commutare to change, exchange, from com- + mutare to change — more at mutable
Rhymes with COMMUTE
acute, astute, Asyût, bear fruit, beetroot, Beirut, birthroot, bloodroot, breadfruit, butut, cahoot, Canute, catsuit, cheroot, choucroute, clubroot, compute, confute, crapshoot, cube root, deaf-mute, depute, dilute, dispute, dry suit, elute, en route, enroot, flight suit, folkmoot, freeboot, galoot, grapefruit, G suit, hardboot, hip boot, hirsute, imbrute, impute, jackboot, jackfruit, jumpsuit, kashruth, lawsuit, long suit, lounge suit, minute, nonsuit, offshoot, outshoot, Paiute, pantsuit, permute, playsuit, pollute, pursuit, recruit, refute, repute, salute, sans doute, seaboot, snowsuit, solute, square root, star fruit, star route, statute, strong suit, sunsuit, sweat suit, swimsuit, take root, taproot, to boot, tracksuit, trade route, transmute, tribute, uproot, volute, wet suit
2commute
noun
: the journey that you make when you travel to or from a place that you go to regularly (such as the place where you work)
Full Definition of COMMUTE
1
: an act or an instance of commuting
2
: the distance covered in commuting <a long commute>
See commute defined for English-language learners
First Known Use of COMMUTE
1954
COMMUTE Defined for Kids
commute
verb com·mute \kə-ˈmyüt\
com·mut·edcom·mut·ing
Definition of COMMUTE for Kids
1
: to travel back and forth regularly
2
: to change (as a penalty) to something less severe <The governor commuted the convict's sentence.>
— com·mut·er noun
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