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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

exchange.

An act of exchanging or trading.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɛksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/[ɛkˈst͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ]/ɪksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/
  1. An act of exchanging or trading.

    countable · uncountable
    All in all, it was an even exchange.
    an exchange of cattle for grain
  2. A place for conducting trading.

    countable · uncountable
    The stock exchange is open for trading.
    The old corn exchange has been converted into a music venue.
  3. Ellipsis of telephone exchange. A central office.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Ellipsis of telephone exchange. The portion of a telephone number that represents (or formerly represented) a central office.

    countable · uncountable
    The 555 exchange is reserved for use by the phone company, which is why it's often used in films.
    NPA-NXX-1234 is standard format, where NPA is the area code and NXX is the exchange.
  5. A conversation.

    countable · uncountable
    After a lengthy exchange with the manager, we were no wiser.
  6. The loss of one piece and associated capture of another.

    countable · uncountable
  7. The loss of one piece and associated capture of another. The loss of a minor piece (typically a bishop or knight) and associated capture of the more advantageous rook.

    countable · uncountable · usually · with-definite-article
  8. The thing given or received in return; especially, a publication exchanged for another.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  9. The transfer of substances or elements like gas, amino-acids, ions etc. sometimes through a surface like a membrane.

    countable · uncountable
  10. The difference between the values of money in different places.

    countable · uncountable
  11. Clipping of exchange of contracts.

    England · Northern-Ireland · Wales · abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English eschaunge, borrowed from Anglo-Norman eschaunge, from Old French eschange (whence modern French échange), from the verb eschanger, from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Spelling later changed on the basis of ex-, with pronunciation following. By surface analysis, ex- + change.

verb/ɛksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/[ɛkˈst͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ]/ɪksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/
  1. To trade or barter.

    transitive
    I'll gladly exchange my place for yours.
  2. To mutually direct at each other.

    figuratively · transitive
    The opposing soldiers exchanged fire across the burning streets.
  3. To replace with, as a substitute.

    transitive
    I'd like to exchange this shirt for one in a larger size.
    Since his arrest, the mob boss has exchanged a mansion for a jail cell.
  4. Clipping of exchange contracts.

    England · Northern-Ireland · Wales · abbreviation · alt-of · clipping
  5. To recommend and get recommendations.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English eschaungen, from Anglo-Norman eschaungier, Old French eschanger, from the Old French verb eschangier, eschanger (whence modern French échanger), from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Gradually displaced native Old English wrixlan, wixlan (“to change, exchange, reciprocate”) and its descendants, wrixle being one of them.

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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.