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commute

kuh-MYOOT /kəˈmjuːt/

verbnounB2GRESATTOEFL

formallegal

To reduce a legal penalty to a less severe one (e.g., changing death sentence to life imprisonment).

Commuting a sentence changes the penalty to a lighter form without wiping away the criminal conviction or record.

The story behind the word. From Latin 'commutare', meaning 'to exchange or substitute'. In law, it originally meant exchanging one form of obligation or payment for another, which evolved into exchanging a severe sentence for a lighter one.

Word relationships

reduce: Reduce is general, whereas commute specifically refers to substituting a lighter legal sentence.
mitigate: Mitigate means to make less severe in general circumstances; commute is the formal legal substitution of sentence.

escalate: Escalate means to increase severity or intensity.
impose: Impose means to enforce the full penalty without reduction.

Commonly confused with

pardon: A pardon clears the conviction and restores full rights; commuting merely replaces a harsh punishment with a lighter one while keeping the conviction.

Word family

commutation (noun): The substitution of a lesser punishment for a greater one.
commutable (adjective): Capable of being commuted or exchanged.

Collocations

commute a sentence
commute to life
commute death sentence
petition to commute

Idioms & expressions

commute punishment

Example sentences

"The governor decided to commute her sentence from death to life without parole." Judicial executive action
"He petitioned the board to commute his thirty-year prison sentence based on exemplary conduct during incarceration." Legal history

Memory hook

COMMUTE = CHANGE the MUTAtion of the sentence to something milder. Commute = Change to a lighter sentence.

When not to use

Do not confuse with the daily travel sense of commute (travelling to work), though both originate from exchanging one state for another.

Fun facts

The everyday meaning of 'commute' (traveling to work) comes from 19th-century American train tickets bought at a 'commuted' (reduced) exchange rate!