Adjacent Words

Commutation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMMUTATION, n.
1. Change; alteration; a passing from one state to another.
2. Exchange; the act of giving one thing for another; barter.
The use of money is to save the commutation of more bulky commodities.
3. In law, the change of a penalty or punishment from a greater to a less; as banishment instead of death.
Suits are allowable in the spiritual courts for money agreed to be given as a commutation for penance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the travel of a commuter [syn: commutation, commuting]
2: a warrant substituting a lesser punishment for a greater one
3: (law) the reduction in severity of a punishment imposed by law [syn: commutation, re-sentencing]
4: the act of putting one thing or person in the place of another: "he sent Smith in for Jones but the substitution came too late to help" [syn: substitution, exchange, commutation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English commutacion, from Anglo-French, from Latin commutation-, commutatio, from commutare Date: 15th century 1. exchange, trade 2. replacement; specifically a substitution of one form of payment or charge for another 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 5. the action of commutating

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or process of commuting or being commuted (in legal and exchange senses). 2 Electr. the act or process of commutating or being commutated. 3 Math. the reversal of the order of two quantities. Phrases and idioms: commutation ticket US a season ticket. Etymology: F commutation or L commutatio (as COMMUTE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Commutation Com`mu*ta"tion, n. [L. commutatio: cf. F. commutation.] 1. A passing from one state to another; change; alteration; mutation. [R.] So great is the commutation that the soul then hated only that which now only it loves. --South. 2. The act of giving one thing for another; barter; exchange. [Obs.] The use of money is . . . that of saving the commutation of more bulky commodities. --Arbuthnot. 3. (Law) The change of a penalty or punishment by the pardoning power of the State; as, the commutation of a sentence of death to banishment or imprisonment. Suits are allowable in the spiritual courts for money agreed to be given as a commutation for penance. --Blackstone. 4. A substitution, as of a less thing for a greater, esp. a substitution of one form of payment for another, or one payment for many, or a specific sum of money for conditional payments or allowances; as, commutation of tithes; commutation of fares; commutation of copyright; commutation of rations. Angle of commutation (Astron.), the difference of the geocentric longitudes of the sun and a planet. Commutation of tithes, the substitution of a regular payment, chargeable to the land, for the annual tithes in kind. Commutation ticket, a ticket, as for transportation, which is the evidence of a contract for service at a reduced rate. See 2d Commute, 2.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Exchange. 2. (Law.) Replacement (of a greater punishment by a less).

Moby Thesaurus

agency, alternation, amends, atonement, balancing, battledore and shuttlecock, change, compensation, cooperation, counteraction, counterbalancing, counterchange, course, cross fire, crossing, delegation, deputation, deputyship, displacement, exchange, expiation, give-and-take, globe-trotting, going, indemnification, indemnity, interchange, intermutation, interplay, journeying, lex talionis, locomotion, measure for measure, motion, movement, moving, mutual admiration, mutual support, mutual transfer, mutuality, offsetting, passage, permutation, power of attorney, progress, quid pro quo, reciprocality, reciprocation, reciprocity, recompense, rectification, redress, reparation, repayment, replacement, representation, restitution, retaliation, revenge, satisfaction, something for something, subrogation, substitution, supersedence, superseding, supersedure, supersession, supplantation, supplanting, supplantment, switch, tit for tat, tourism, touristry, traject, trajet, transit, transposal, transposition, travel, traveling, vicariousness