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commuter

commuter

116 2.5
A person who travels regularly between home and work, often to a city
  • noun
  • /kəˈmjuːtər/
translation icon : persona que hace el trayecto casa-trabajo
  • During rush hour, many commuters are packed into the subway cars like sardines.
  • commuter train
  • commuter rail
  • commuters use public transportation

And we're not even done for the commuters out there.

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Examples

  • All around him were the other men, commuters too, and many of them friends of his.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Many commuters are abandoning their vehicles.

  • A commuter recorded what happened on their phone and posted it online.

  • I have to leave, I have to get on the commuter rail, - and I go back to LA.

  • For instance, in Atlanta in 1992, the average commuter spent 25 hours a year stuck in traffic.

    Academic text (2004)
  • As a consequence, these students at commuter institutions lack a sense of belonging to the given institution.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Ringwood's going to become one of the most affluent little commuter towns in the country.

  • In Kyoto, I ride the efficient commuter trains and the safe, graffiti-free subways.

    Academic text (1998)
  • And I would put it at the top of the Holland Tunnel for all the busy commuters stressing and and frantically driving to work.

  • Every morning, the commuter takes the train from the suburbs to the city for work.

Compounds

A train that carries people who travel regularly between home and work or school in a city

Many people and cars travel to and from work at rush hour

How Urban

urbanite
5 4.1
bridge-and-tunnel crowd
  • Offensive
1 9.3
commuter
116 2.5
suburbanite
12 5.8

Surface Forms

commuter singular
commuters plural

Morphology

commuter = commute (transparent) = commute + er

Agentive suffix '-er' straightforwardly forms a noun meaning 'person who commutes'; the relation to 'commute' is clear.

Etymology

The word commuter comes from the verb commute, which comes from the Latin commutare meaning 'to change' or 'exchange'. So a commuter is someone who moves between home and work regularly.