commutative

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"commutative" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“commutative” is uncommon English (frequency #52,230 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,230
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Such that the order in which the operands are taken does not affect their image under the operation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-commutative · commutative · English

commutative · rank #52,230 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,230
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH colourless

Nearest frequency peer: colourless (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “commutative”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “commutative” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for commutative
PropertyValue
Headwordcommutative
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#52,230
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “commutative” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).commutativefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “colourless” (#52,229), “compaction” (#52,231), “Colliers” (#52,228). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “commutative” is #52,230. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

commutative is uncommon English at frequency #52,230 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for commutative, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French commuter (“to substitute or switch”) + -ative (“tending to”). See commute. The correct English form is commutative, spelled C-O-M-M-U-T-A-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Such that the order in which the operands are taken does not affect their image under the operation.
  2. 2
    Having a commutative operation.
  3. 3
    Such that any two sequences of morphisms with the same initial and final positions compose to the same morphism.
  4. 4
    Relating to exchange; interchangeable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how commutative appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Addition on the real numbers is commutative because for any real numbers s,t, it is true that s#43;t#61;t#43;s.
  2. Addition and multiplication are commutative operations but subtraction and division are not.

Etymology

From French commuter (“to substitute or switch”) + -ative (“tending to”). See commute.

Synonyms

abelianAbelian

Antonyms

anticommutative

This word in other languages

commutatif(Français)kommutativ(Deutsch)comutativo(Português)

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

How do you spell "commutative"?
"commutative" is spelled C-O-M-M-U-T-A-T-I-V-E.
What does "commutative" mean?
As an adjective, "commutative" means: Such that the order in which the operands are taken does not affect their image under the operation.
What is the origin of the word "commutative"?
From French commuter (“to substitute or switch”) + -ative (“tending to”). See commute. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "commutative", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conformance#52,235boilerplate#52,189bodhisattva#52,188encapsulate#52,295

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list