Home › Everyday Transportation & Driving › Ridesharing & Taxis › commute

commute

kuh-MYOOT /kəˈmjuːt/

verbnounB1IELTSTOEFLSAT

General

To travel back and forth regularly between one's home and place of work or study.

Focuses on repetitive daily back-and-forth work travel.

The story behind the word. From Latin 'commutare' (to exchange). In 19th-century American railroading, suburban passengers bought monthly passes at a reduced rate—their daily fare was 'commuted' (exchanged/reduced). Soon, the travelers were called commuters, and the travel itself became 'the commute'.

Word relationships

travel: 'Travel' is general and unspecific, while 'commute' explicitly means routine work-home travel.
shuttle: 'Shuttle' emphasizes repeated movement over a short fixed distance, often provided as a service.

reside: 'Reside' means staying settled in one location.

Commonly confused with

compute: 'Compute' means to calculate numerically; 'commute' means to travel regularly to work.
permute: 'Permute' means to alter the sequence or arrangement of items.

Word family

commuter (noun): A person who travels regularly to and from work.
commutable (adjective): Able to be traveled over daily.

Collocations

daily commute
morning commute
commute time
commute to work
reverse commute

Idioms & expressions

commuter belt

Example sentences

"He uses his forty-minute train commute to read books and answer emails." Daily routine
"Many professionals choose to commute from suburban towns into the city core." Urban sociology

Memory hook

COMMUTERS COMPUTE their travel time to work. Daily journey to work.

When not to use

Do not use 'commute' for long-distance vacation travel or one-off business trips across the globe.

Fun facts

The longest daily driving commute recorded was by a man in California who drove 186 miles each way to work every single weekday!