commutation test

noun

the act of substituting one thing for another; substitution; exchange.

the changing of a prison sentence or other penalty to another less severe.

the act of commuting, as to and from a place of work.

the substitution of one kind of payment for another.

Electricity. the act or process of commutating.

Also called commutation test. Linguistics. the technique, especially in phonological analysis, of substituting one linguistic item for another while keeping the surrounding elements constant, used as a means of determining the constituent units in a sequence and their contrasts with other units.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English commutacioun < Latin commūtātiōn- (stem of commutātiō) change. See commute, -ation

Related forms

pro·com·mu·ta·tion, adjective

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Link To commutation test

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Commutation test is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

commutation (ˌkɒmjʊˈteɪʃən)

—n
1.	a substitution or exchange
2.	a. the replacement of one method of payment by another
	b. the payment substituted
3.	the reduction in severity of a penalty imposed by law
4.	the process of commutating an electric current
5.	(US) the travelling done by a commuter

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

commutation

1496, from Fr. commutacion (13c.), from L. commutationem (nom. commutatio) "a change, alteration," noun of action from commutare "to change, alter entirely" (see commute).

Matching Quote

"It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth; for that it will not stick where it is not just. I deny it. A truth learned in a certain light, and attacked in certain words, by men of wit and humour, may, and often doth, become ridiculous, at least so far, that the truth is only remembered and repeated for the sake of the ridicule."

-Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, 4th Earl

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