Com*mute" (kŏm*mūt"), v.
t. [imp. & p. p. Commuted;
p. pr. & vb. n. Commuting.] [L.
commutare, -mutatum; com- + mutare to
change. See Mutation.] To exchange; to put or
substitute something else in place of, as a smaller penalty,
obligation, or payment, for a greater, or a single thing for an
aggregate; hence, to lessen; to diminish; as, to commute a
sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life; to
commute tithes; to commute charges for
fares.
The sounds water and fire, being once annexed to
those two elements, it was certainly more natural to call beings
participating of the first "watery", and the last "fiery", than
to commute the terms, and call them by the reverse.
J. Harris
The utmost that could be obtained was that her
sentence should be commuted from burning to beheading.
Macaulay.
Com*mute", v. i. 1.
To obtain or bargain for exemption or substitution; to
effect a commutation.
He . . . thinks it unlawful to commute, and
that he is bound to pay his vow in kind.
Jer. Taylor.
2. To pay, or arrange to pay, in gross
instead of part by part; as, to commute for a year's
travel over a route.