1. The act of putting one thing or person in the place of another
   "The judge allowed the commutation of his sentence to community service";
   - substitution, exchange
    
2. (law) the reduction in severity of a punishment imposed by law
   "The appeal resulted in a commutation that reduced the defendant's jail time";
   - re-sentencing
    
3. (law) a warrant substituting a lesser punishment for a greater one
   "The president granted a commutation, reducing the sentence from life imprisonment to 20 years"
    
4. The travel of a commuter
   "His daily commutation took up two hours of his day";
   - commuting

Derived forms: commutations

Type of: change, clemency, mercifulness, mercy, travel, traveling [US], travelling [Brit, Cdn], warrant

Encyclopedia: Commutation