Meaning & use
commutative
Describing an operation in mathematics where the order of the elements does not change the result.
See it in a sentence
Addition is commutative because 2 plus 3 gives the same result as 3 plus 2.
Subtraction is not commutative, since changing the order changes the answer.
A note on using this word
Contrast with "associative," which concerns grouping rather than order; matrix multiplication is a common non-commutative operation.
Words with a similar meaning
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