conmutación

commutation, switching

noun kohn-moo-tah-SYOHN Rare

Origin: From Latin commutatio (exchange, change).

Usage Note

Conmutación has two main domains: in law it means the commutation of a sentence (conmutación de pena), reducing a penalty to a lesser one; in telecommunications and computing it means switching or routing (conmutación de paquetes = packet switching). The verb is conmutar. Learners are most likely to encounter the legal sense in news contexts.

Examples

"El juez aprobó la conmutación de la pena."

Natural Translation

The judge approved the commutation of the sentence.

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