commute
/kəˈmjuːt/ IELTSAcademic
verb
To travel regularly between home and work, or another place you go often. It often means a daily trip that takes time.
- I commute to the office by train.
- She commutes two hours every day.
- He commutes from the suburbs.
noun
The regular journey between home and work, or another place you go often.
- My commute is usually crowded.
- The commute takes forty minutes.
- Her commute got shorter after the move.
verb
To change one thing into another, often a punishment into a smaller one.
- The judge commuted the sentence.
- The president commuted his prison term.
- Her death sentence was commuted.
Adinary Nuance
Commute is more specific than travel or go. Use it for regular trips, especially between home and work. It sounds natural in work, city, and academic contexts. For the punishment meaning, it is not the same as reduce; it is a legal change, often to a lighter sentence.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- đi làm
- Spanish
- desplazarse
- Chinese
- 通勤
- Japanese
- 通勤する
- Korean
- 통근하다
Etymology
Commuted in English in the 19th century from Latin commutare, meaning “to change.” The travel meaning developed from the idea of changing daily travel for a fixed payment.
Common phrases
daily commutelong commutecommute to workcommute by train
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is commute a noun or a verb?
- It can be both. As a verb, it means to travel regularly. As a noun, it means that regular journey.
- Is commute the same as travel?
- No. Travel is general. Commute usually means a repeated trip between home and work or study.
- Is commute formal or informal?
- It is neutral and common in everyday, business, and academic English.
- Can commute mean a legal sentence change?
- Yes. In law, it means to reduce a punishment to a lighter one.