commutation

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From French commutacion, from Latin commūtātiōnem.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kɒmjuːˈteɪʃən/

[edit] Noun

commutation (plural commutations)

1. (obsolete) A passing from one state to another; change; alteration; mutation.
2. (obsolete) The act of giving one thing for another; barter; exchange.
3. (formal or archaic) Substitution of one thing for another; interchange.
4. Specifically, the substitution of one kind of payment for another, especially a switch to monetary payment from obligations of labour.
   • 1969, Philip Ziegler, The Black Death, Folio Society 2006, p. 213:

     Professor Postan has argued in favour of a rapid move towards commutation in the twelfth century which slackened or even went into reverse in the course of the thirteenth.

5. (law) The change to a lesser penalty or punishment by the State

   His family were relieved to see a commutation of his sentence from death to life imprisonment.

6. (linguistics) Substitution, as a means of discriminating between phonemes.
7. (electronics) The reversal of an electric current.

[edit] Translations