English
commutation
Commutation comes from Latin commūtātiō ‘change, alteration, reversal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūtō‘to change or alter entirely’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūtātiōas commūtātiōnem‘change, alteration, reversal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcommutation
- Englishearliest quotation 1969same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūtō‘to change or alter entirely’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūtātiōas commūtātiōnem‘change, alteration, reversal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcommutation
- Englishearliest quotation 1969same form
Earliest quotation: 1969, Philip Ziegler, The Black Death: “Professor Postan has argued in favour of a rapid…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
miss, message, mad, mess, commit, premise, madden, intermittent, omit, misnomer, transmute, 19 more
through Latin mūtō ‘change, alter’
mute, mutant, molt, immutable, moult, mutate, mutable, transmutation, 13 more
Today it means
noun Substitution of one thing for another; interchange.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- / commutation