commuto

Forms

commūtō (present infinitive commūtāre, perfect active commūtāvī, supine commūtātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + mūtō (“to change, exchange”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan explains ⟨mūtō⟩ from a noun Proto-Italic *moito- (“object of exchange”), also behind mūtuus (“lent, mutual”), and gives two possible sources, Proto-Indo-European *moyth₂-o- from the root of mittō or another root for “to exchange”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.^[4] In the Mercator a father asks his son why his colour has changed.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to change more or less completely, a road or a drain in a law, a person's fortune (an old tragic poem), one's course, as Cicero's sailor who changes course to reach port, and a person's outlook.^[2][5] In Plautus it is to change for the worse, to replace, as a name, and to move one's home, Cato uses it of moving oil dregs from vat to vat.^[2] It is also to exchange, barter, as Cicero's exchange of books, verba commūtāre to exchange words, and to transform, as Plautus' Mercury, “I am a god, I will change it”.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “change, substitute”.^[6] English commute (mid-15th century) first meant to change one thing into another.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of change and exchange.^[2][4][7]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of moving oil dregs.^[2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of nature changing all things.^[5][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of changing course and exchanging books.^[2][7]
• mid-15th century – English commute.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To change wholly, alter; to change (a person's views).^[2][1][5]
2. To change for the worse.^[2]
3. To replace; to change (one's abode); to shift.^[2][1][6]
4. To exchange, barter, verba commūtāre, to converse.^[2][1]
5. To transform.^[2][1]

Word family

• commūtābilis
• commūtātiō
• commūtātus
• incommutatus
• commūtātē

Related words

• dēmūtō
• ēmūtō
• immūtō
• mūtō
• permūtō
• submūtō
• trānsmūtō
• mūtuus
• English commute

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de