commutation
/kɒmjuːˈteɪʃən/
"commutation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“commutation” is uncommon English (frequency #57,300 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,300
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Substitution of one thing for another; interchange.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | commutation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɒmjuːˈteɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #57,300 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “commutation” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
commutation is uncommon English at frequency #57,300 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɒmjuːˈteɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
commutation doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French commutation, from Latin commūtātiōnem, accusative singular of commūtātiō. The correct English form is commutation, spelled C-O-M-M-U-T-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Substitution of one thing for another; interchange.
- 2Specifically, the substitution of one kind of payment for another, especially a switch to monetary payment from obligations of labour.
- 3The change to a lesser penalty or punishment by the State
- 4Substitution, as a means of discriminating between phonemes.
- 5The reversal of an electric current.
- 6A passing from one state to another; change; alteration; mutation.
- 7The act of giving one thing for another; barter; exchange.
Etymology
From French commutation, from Latin commūtātiōnem, accusative singular of commūtātiō.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “commutation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-U-T-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɒmjuːˈteɪʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.