Definition of "commutation" [com•mu•ta•tion]

• A substitution, exchange, or interchange. (noun)
• The substitution of one kind of payment for another. (noun)
• The payment substituted. (noun)
• The travel of a commuter. (noun)
• Electricity Conversion of alternating to unidirectional current. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""The cash payment in commutation of leave under this paragraph shall equal the compensation that such employee would have received had he remained in the service until the expiration of the period of such leave.""
• "The commutation is a virtual admission of guilt by Bush that the outing of Plame was part of a generalized conspiracy in the White House that involved major players, i.e. either Bush or Cheney themselves."
• "Of course, as Joe Wilson also pointed out, if the commutation was the result of a quid pro quo, then Libby will continue to have no motivation to tell the truth to prosecutors."