1. the act of reducing a legal penalty to a less severe one
Usage: legal
2. the process of traveling regularly between home and work
3. the substitution of one form of payment for another
Usage: formal

Examples

• The governor granted a commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment.
• His daily commutation from the suburbs takes over an hour.
• The prisoner’s lawyer filed for commutation of the harsh sentence.
• She grew tired of the long commutation to downtown.
• The commutation of payments simplified the financial arrangement.
• The commutation reduced his sentence from ten years to five.
• Many workers face a difficult commutation during rush hour.