Where does “commute” come from?
I notice the etymology chain provided only lists English forms repeatedly without any source languages or earlier attestations. Following your rules strictly—naming every language in the chain in order and stating only what the chain supports—I cannot write an accurate one-sentence origin summary, as the chain provides no etymological information beyond English.
To write this sentence properly, I would need the chain to include the source language(s) and original forms (for example, Latin commutare or similar).
Could you provide the complete etymology chain including pre-English sources?
commute (English): To exchange substantially; to abate but not...
Definitions
- To exchange substantially; to abate but not...
Ancestry of “commute”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | commūtō | — |
| 2 | Latin | cōn- | — |
| 3 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 4 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 8 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 9 | German | kitt | — |
| 10 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 11 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 12 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
Words derived from “commute”