commute
/kəˈmjuːt/·커뮤트·verb
to travel regularly between home and work; to substitute
LatinCEFR B2
Root
Latin 'com-' (together) + 'mutare' (to change)
Latin commutare (to exchange) → English commute (15th c., to exchange); from late 19th c. American railways: a commutation ticket (substitute fare) → to commute = travel by such ticket → daily journey to work
In a word
Latin com- (together) + mutare (to change). The original sense: 'to exchange'. The word's drift is social history in miniature — Medieval: to exchange one punishment for another = to commute a sentence. 19th-c. American railways: a commutation ticket exchanged the daily-fare hassle for a fixed pass → users were called commuters → the daily trip became to commute. The English word on your morning train is still borrowing the Latin verb 'to change'.
Examples
He commutes two hours each day.
The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Many people commute by train.
Related
commutercommutationcommute (n.)mutatemutual