# commutate
## English
### Etymology

Back-formation from commutation (in the late 19th century), as is commutator (noun) too.

### Verb

commutate (third-person singular simple present commutates, present participle commutating, simple past and past participle commutated)
* (transitive, electronics) To reverse the direction of (a current).
** 2013, Freidrich Nettel, Comparison of Principal Points of Standards for Electrical Machinea & Transformers: German, British, & American Standards compared, →ISBN, page 19:Continuously rated machines shall be required to commutate successfully momentary loads of 150% of the Amperes corresponding to the continuous rating keeping the rheostat set for rated load excitation.
* (transitive, electronics) To convert from being or using an alternating current into being or using a direct current.
** 2009, S.K. Bhattacharya, Fundamentals Of Power Electronics, 1E, →ISBN, page 72:In line commutation, advantage of the a.c. supply going through zero value at every half-cycle is taken to commutate the thyristor.
* (intransitive, mathematics) To commute; to be invariant under a reversal of the positions of operands.
** 2012, J. Kittler, V.W. Fu, L.F Pau, Pattern Recognition Theory and Applications, →ISBN, page 194:The match of two finite line segments in 2 dimensions requires 2 translations, 1 rotation, 1 scale transformation; the order is here important, and these operators cannot commutate.
* (transitive, finance) To commute; to change one kind of payment into another, especially to convert from several installments to a single lumpsum payment.
** 2012, Stewart, Workers Compensation: Rorting the System Or System Rorted?, →ISBN:Ah, commutation. I knew there was something else. This is where you can commutate your weekly payments into a lump sum and be rid of the “system”.
* (transitive, law) To remove or reduce the legal obligations or restrictions on
** 1986, Brian J. Young, In Its Corporate Capacity: The Seminary of Montreal as a Business Institution 1816-1876., →ISBN, page 52:Specifically, the seminary was challenged by industrial millers who petitioned to build steam-powered mills and by large Montreal property holders who demanded that the crown commutate their lands.
* (transitive) To transform, especially into a reversed or opposite form.
** 2007, Jeff Rice, The Rhetoric of Cool: Composition Studies and New Media, →ISBN, page 123:Writers change the URIs as they compose because writers commutate and manipulate language to create a variety of rhetorical experiences that can be read at once, as overlapping, or as separate.

#### Derived terms

* anticommutating

#### Related terms

* (electrical): commutator

## Italian
### Etymology 1
#### Verb

commutate
* inflection of commutare:
** second-person plural present indicative
** second-person plural imperative

### Etymology 2
#### Participle

commutate f pl
* feminine plural of commutato

## Latin
### Verb

commūtāte
* second-person plural present active imperative of commūtō

### References

* “commutate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* commutate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.