# exchange

Pronunciation: say "eks-CHAYNJ" /ɛksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. An act of trading one thing for another, or of giving and receiving in return.
   - Simple: The act of giving one thing and getting another thing back in return.
   - _The peace deal involved an exchange of prisoners between the two sides._
   - _Their exchange of wedding vows took place at sunset._
3. A place or organization where commodities, securities, or currencies are traded.
   - Simple: A place or organization where people buy and sell things such as stocks, goods, or currencies.
   - _The company listed its shares on the London exchange._
   - _Prices on the exchange fell sharply that afternoon._
5. A conversation, especially a brief back-and-forth in which people share words or remarks.
   - Simple: A short talk in which people share words or ideas.
   - _A heated exchange broke out between the two senators during the debate._
   - _After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they got down to business._
6. An arrangement under which people, most often students, from two countries or institutions visit or stay with one another for a period.
   - Simple: An arrangement for people, often students, from two countries or schools to visit or stay with one another temporarily.
   - _The university runs an exchange with a partner school in Seoul, and twenty students swap campuses each spring._
   - _During her exchange in Madrid, she lived with a local family and took classes in Spanish._
8. The difference in the value of money from one place to another, as between local and foreign currency.
   - Simple: The difference in how much money is worth from one place or country to another.
   - _Merchants tracked the exchange between local and foreign coin to time their trades._
   - _When the exchange turned against them, exporters found their goods harder to sell abroad._
9. The transfer of substances such as gases, amino acids, or ions, sometimes across a surface like a membrane.
   - Simple: The movement of gases, ions, or other tiny substances, often across a thin wall.
   - _In the lungs, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs across thin alveolar walls._
   - _Ion exchange across the cell membrane maintains the proper electrical balance._
10. A central facility that switches and connects telephone calls between subscribers.
   - Simple: A central building that connects telephone calls between users.
   - _Engineers upgraded the local exchange to handle digital calls._
   - _A fault at the exchange knocked out service for the whole district._
11. In board games such as chess, the loss of one piece together with the capture of an opposing one.
   - Simple: In chess, giving up one of your pieces while capturing one of your opponent's.
   - _The grandmaster initiated an exchange to simplify the position._
   - _Declining the exchange, he moved his bishop to safety._
12. In chess, the loss of a minor piece such as a bishop or knight in return for capturing the more valuable rook.
   - Simple: In chess, losing a bishop or knight while capturing the stronger rook.
   - _She won the exchange when her bishop captured the enemy rook._
   - _Down the exchange, he fought hard to hold the draw._
15. Clipping of exchange of contracts. *(England, Northern Ireland, Wales)* — Clipping of exchange of contracts.
   - Simple: Short form of exchange of contracts. It is the moment a property deal becomes legally binding.
   - _Exchange took place a week before completion._
   - _Both parties signed and posted the contracts to effect exchange._

## Verb

2. Of two or more people, to give each other things of the same kind, such as glances, words, blows, ideas, or advice.
   - Simple: When people exchange things like looks, words, or ideas, each one gives them to the other.
   - _Old friends exchange knowing looks at every reunion._
   - _The two leaders exchanged sharp remarks during the summit._
4. To give one thing and receive another in return; to trade or barter.
   - Simple: To give something and get something else back instead.
   - _Farmers exchange surplus crops for tools at the weekly market._
   - _She exchanged her old phone for store credit._
7. To give up or leave one thing and take another in its place, as a change of what one has or uses rather than a trade with someone else.
   - Simple: To take something away and put another thing in its place.
   - _The mechanic exchanged the worn tire for a fresh one._
   - _Staff exchange the old batteries for charged ones each evening._
14. Clipping of exchange contracts: the verb use, meaning to carry out that swap of signed contracts. *(England, Northern Ireland, Wales)* — Clipping of exchange contracts.
   - Simple: Short form of exchange contracts. It means to make a property deal legally binding.
   - _We exchanged on the house on Friday, so the buyers can no longer pull out._
   - _Our solicitor expects us to exchange next week and complete on the new flat by the end of the month._

## Noun

13. Something given or received in return for something else, especially a journal or other publication that is swapped for another one. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Something given or received in return for another thing.

## Other meanings

- (noun) The part of a telephone number that represents, or once represented, a particular central office.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3, 5–6, 8–13, 15** — The noun came through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from Old French eschange, which came from the verb eschanger and ultimately from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex plus Late Latin cambiō). The spelling later shifted to reflect ex-, with pronunciation following. By surface analysis it is ex- + change.
**Meanings 2, 4, 7, 14** — The verb came through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from the Old French verb eschangier, and ultimately from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex plus Late Latin cambiō). It gradually displaced the native Old English wrixlan ("to change, exchange, reciprocate") and its descendants.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/exchange (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).