Commuting is popularly defined as ‘regular travel between one’s place of residence and place of work or full-time study.’ Somewhat ironically, given our current dependance on the automobile to ‘commute’ between home and work, the term originated during the early days of rail transit. People who travelled form the new fangled ’suburbs of cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago would buy ‘commutation tickets’ (what we now call ‘bus’ or ’transit’ passes) that commuted (‘changed,’ from Latin commutare) a bunch of daily fares into a single payment. In other languages, the term for commuting is typically a variation of ‘pendulum.’ (HT: Language Hat)

Related “There and Back again: The Soul of a Commuter” (New Yorker, April 16, 2007)