commute
Americanverb (used with object)
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commutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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commuted,
past participle, past
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commuting
present participle
-
to change (a prison sentence or other penalty) to a less severe one.
The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
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to exchange for another or for something else; give and take reciprocally; interchange.
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to change.
to commute base metal into gold.
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to change (one kind of payment) into or for another, as by substitution.
verb (used without object)
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commutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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commuted,
past participle, past
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commuting
present participle
-
to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and back.
He commutes to work by train.
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to make substitution.
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to serve as a substitute.
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to make a collective payment, especially of a reduced amount, as an equivalent for a number of payments.
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Mathematics. to give the same result whether operating on the left or on the right.
noun
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commutes
plural
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a trip made by commuting.
It's a long commute from his home to his office.
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an act or instance of commuting.
verb
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(intr) to travel some distance regularly between one's home and one's place of work
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(tr) to substitute; exchange
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(tr) law to reduce (a sentence) to one less severe
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to pay (an annuity) at one time, esp with a discount, instead of in instalments
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(tr) to transform; change
to commute base metal into gold
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(intr) to act as or be a substitute
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(intr) to make a substitution; change
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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commutesimple
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commutessimple
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have commutedperfect
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has commutedperfect
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am commutingprogressive
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are commutingprogressive
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is commutingprogressive
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have been commutingperfect progressive
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has been commutingperfect progressive
Past
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commutedsimple
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had commutedperfect
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was commutingprogressive
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were commutingprogressive
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had been commutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of commute
First recorded in 1400–50, and in 1885–90 commute for def. 5; late Middle English, from Latin commūtāre “to change, replace, exchange,” equivalent to com- “with, together” ( see com-) + mūtāre “to change”
Explanation
A commute is a journey you take from home to work and back again. You might enjoy your subway commute because it gives you lots of time to read. Your commute is your trip to work, and the verb commute describes making that trip — like your preference to commute by public bus. Another meaning of commute describes changing the length of a judicial sentence, like when a judge commutes someone's time in jail. You can see this meaning in the word's origin — the Latin word commutare, meaning "to change altogether."
Vocabulary lists containing commute
Born a Crime
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Just Mercy
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
University professor Oh Ji-hye for years walked past the village without going inside, opting instead for AI readings during her commute.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Some of her neighbors, she said, work in Chicago, about an hour’s commute away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
“Spotify lives across your whole day — the commute, the workout, studying, gaming, the dinner table, and sleep. At our scale, that is rare.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The response from emergency workers during the Friday morning commute blocked traffic on the bridge that connects Boyle Heights and the Arts District.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
As for him, he’ll keep his job in publishing and just commute.
From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes
He still commutes back to Bristol twice a week to play football and added he "catches the traffic in Chepstow but other than football I look to stay in the Forest as much as possible".
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
"Younger generations grow up with politics alongside their memes, their family pictures and their daily commutes."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Navigation apps might point out the coolest commutes as well as the fastest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Yet the spread of work-from-home abilities has been a win for people with disabilities, workers with young families or people with long commutes, said Bloom.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
I only suspect that he commutes to work in New York.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Suu Kyi, now 81, was moved to house arrest later that month after Min Aung Hlaing said he had commuted the rest of her sentence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Juries deliberated and judges delivered sentences, some of which were commuted by the state’s governors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In many other cases, the courts handed out jail terms or suspended death sentences, which get commuted to life imprisonment after a specified duration.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Four years later, an overwhelming majority of California voters approved Proposition 36, reversing a 2014 change that had commuted some nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Christine commuted from Portsmouth for a short time before moving her family to Hampton after Sue Wilder tipped her off on a house for rent in her neighborhood.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
His father, a lawyer, bought a flat close to both the high court and Kahaan's school, commuting between the two cities while Kahaan lived with his mother Veena and younger brother Rihaan.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
They're moving further out of Bozeman and commuting on mountain roads.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Fiat is positioning the Topolino as an alternative option for a growing cohort of motorists considering a low-speed vehicle, such as a golf cart, for daily commuting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
After the July deadline, DeGaetano wrote to Nieporte: “We have both junior and senior employees commuting over one hour each way to work, and yet you feel this policy doesn’t apply to you.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Upcars were shooting over, back and forth, people were commuting.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
