commutate

Verb

commutate (third-person singular simple present commutates, present participle commutating, simple past and past participle commutated)

1. (transitive) To reverse the direction of (a current).
   • Continuously rated machines shall be required to commutate successfully momentary loads of 150% of the Amperes corresponding to the continuous rating keeping the rheostat set for rated load excitation.2013, Freidrich Nettel, Comparison of Principal Points of Standards for Electrical Machinea & Transformers: German, British, & American Standards compared, →ISBN, page 19
2. (transitive) To convert from being or using an alternating current into being or using a direct current.
   • In line commutation, advantage of the a.c. supply going through zero value at every half-cycle is taken to commutate the thyristor.2009, S.K. Bhattacharya, Fundamentals Of Power Electronics, 1E, →ISBN, page 72
3. (intransitive) To commute; to be invariant under a reversal of the positions of operands.
   • The match of two finite line segments in 2 dimensions requires 2 translations, 1 rotation, 1 scale transformation; the order is here important, and these operators cannot commutate.2012, J. Kittler, V.W. Fu, L.F Pau, Pattern Recognition Theory and Applications, →ISBN, page 194
4. (transitive) To commute; to change one kind of payment into another, especially to convert from several installments to a single lumpsum payment.
   • Ah, commutation. I knew there was something else. This is where you can commutate your weekly payments into a lump sum and be rid of the “system”.2012, Stewart, Workers Compensation: Rorting the System Or System Rorted?, →ISBN
5. (transitive) To remove or reduce the legal obligations or restrictions on
   • Specifically, the seminary was challenged by industrial millers who petitioned to build steam-powered mills and by large Montreal property holders who demanded that the crown commutate their lands.1986, Brian J. Young, In Its Corporate Capacity: The Seminary of Montreal as a Business Institution 1816-1876., →ISBN, page 52
6. (transitive) To transform, especially into a reversed or opposite form.
   • Writers change the URIs as they compose because writers commutate and manipulate language to create a variety of rhetorical experiences that can be read at once, as overlapping, or as separate.2007, Jeff Rice, The Rhetoric of Cool: Composition Studies and New Media, →ISBN, page 123