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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

commutator.

An electrical switch, in a generator or motor, that periodically reverses the direction of an electric current.

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun
  1. An electrical switch, in a generator or motor, that periodically reverses the direction of an electric current.

  2. A binary map in a given group G, given by [g, h] = ghg⁻¹h⁻¹, where g and h are elements of G, which yields the group's identity if and only if the group operation commutes for g and h.

  3. A binary map in a given ring R, given by [a, b] = ab − ba, where a and b are elements of R, which yields the ring's zero element if and only if the multiplication operation commutes for a and b.

Where this word comes from

Back-formation from commutation (in the late 19th century), as is commutate (verb) too.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.