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Webster 1913 Edition

Exchange

Ex-change′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Exchanged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Exchanging
.]
[Cf.OF.
eschangier
, F.
échanger
. See
Exchange
,
Noun.
]
1.
To part with give, or transfer to another in consideration of something received as an equivalent; – usually followed by for before the thing received.
Exchange
his sheep for shells, or wool for a sparking pebble or a diamond.
Locke.
2.
To part with for a substitute; to lay aside, quit, or resign (something being received in place of the thing parted with);
as, to
exchange
a palace for cell
.
And death for life
exchanged
foolishly.
Spenser.
To shift his being
Is to
exchange
one misery with another.
Shakespeare
3.
To give and receive reciprocally, as things of the same kind; to barter; to swap;
as, to
exchange
horses with a neighbor; to
exchange
houses or hats.
Syn. – To barter; change; commute; interchange; bargain; truck; swap; traffic.

Ex-change′

,
Verb.
I.
To be changed or received in exchange for; to pass in exchange;
as, dollar
exchanges
for ten dimes
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Exchange

EXCHANGE

, v.t.
1.
In commerce, to give one thing or commodity for another; to alienate or transfer the property of a thing and receive in compensation for it something of supposed equal value; to barter; and in vulgar language, to swap; to truck. It differs from sell, only in the kind of compensation. To sell is to alienate for money; to exchange is to alienate one commodity for another; as, to exchange horses; to exchange oxen for corn.
2.
To lay aside, quit or resign one thing, state or condition, and take another in the place of it; as, to exchange a crown for a cowl; to exchange a throne for a cell or a hermitage; to exchange a life of ease for a life of toil.
3.
To give and receive reciprocally; to give and receive in compensation the same thing.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
4.
To give and receive the like thing; as to exchange thoughts; to exchange work; to exchange blows; to exchange prisoners.
It has with before the person receiving the thing given, and for before the equivalent. Will you exchange horses with me? Will you exchange your horse for mine?

EXCHANGE

,
Noun.
In commerce, the act of giving one thing or commodity for another; barter; traffic by permutation, in which the thing received is supposed to be equivalent to the thing given.
Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses. Gen 47.
1.
The act of giving up or resigning one thing or state for another, without contract.
2.
The act of giving and receiving reciprocally; as an exchange of thoughts; an exchange of civilities.
3.
The contract by which one commodity is transferred to another for an equivalent commodity.
4.
The thing given in return for something received; or the thing received in return for what is given.
There's my exchange.
In ordinary business, this is called change.
5.
The form of exchanging one debt or credit for another; or the receiving or paying of money in one place, for an equal sum in another, by order, draft or bill of exchange. A in London is creditor to B in New York, and C in London owed D in New York a like sum. A in London draws a bill of exchange on B in New York; C in London purchases the bill, by which A receives his debt due from B in New York. C transmits the bill to D in New York, who receives the amount from B.
Bills of exchange, drawn on persons in a foreign country, are called foreign bills of exchange; the like bills, drawn on persons in different parts or cities of the same country, are called inland bills of exchange.
A bill of exchange is a mercantile contract in which four persons are primarily concerned.
6.
In mercantile language, a bill drawn for money is called exchange, instead of a bill of exchange.
7.
The course of exchange, is the current price between two places, which is above or below par, or at par. Exchange is at par, when a bill in New York for the payment of one hundred pounds sterling in London, can be purchased for one hundred pounds. If it can be purchased for less, exchange is under par. If the purchases is obliged to give more, exchange is above par.
8.
In law, a mutual grant of equal interest, the one in consideration of the other. Estates exchanged must be equal in quantity, as fee simple for fee simple.
9.
The place where the merchants, brokers and bankers of a city meet to transact business, at certain hours; often contracted into change.

Definition 2024

exchange

exchange

English

Noun

exchange ‎(plural exchanges)

  1. An act of exchanging or trading.
    All in all, it was an even exchange.
    an exchange of cattle for grain
  2. A place for conducting trading.
    The stock exchange is open for trading.
  3. A telephone exchange.
  4. (telephony, US only?) The fourth through sixth digits of a ten-digit phone number (the first three before the introduction of area codes).
    The 555 exchange is reserved for use by the phone company, which is why it's often used in films.
    NPA-NXX-1234 is standard format, where NPA is the area code and NXX is the exchange.
  5. A conversation.
    After an exchange with the manager, we were no wiser.
    • 2014, Ian Black, "Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian, 27 November 2014:
      “Why bother with the daily grind when you can go to Mosul, get paid $400 a month, get a wife – and live an Islamic way,” went an exchange between two men overheard by a fellow passenger in a taxi. Rumour has it that a woman whose husband died fighting with Isis now receives a generous widow’s pension from jihadi coffers.
  6. (chess) The loss of one piece and associated capture of another
    1. (usually with "the") The loss of a relatively minor piece (typically a bishop or knight) and associated capture of the more advantageous rook
  7. (obsolete) The thing given or received in return; especially, a publication exchanged for another.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  8. (biochemistry) The transfer of substances or elements like gas, amino-acids, ions etc. sometimes through a surface like a membrane.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English eschaungen, from Anglo-Norman eschaungier, eschanger, from the Old French verb eschangier, eschanger (whence modern French échanger), from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre, present active infinitive of *excambiō (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Gradually displaced native Old English wrixlan, wixlan ‎(“to change, exchange, reciprocate”) and its descendants, wrixle being one of them.

Verb

exchange ‎(third-person singular simple present exchanges, present participle exchanging, simple past and past participle exchanged)

  1. (transitive) To trade or barter.
    I'll gladly exchange my place for yours.
  2. (transitive) To replace with, as a substitute.
    I'd like to exchange this shirt for one in a larger size.
    Since his arrest, the mob boss has exchanged a mansion for a jail cell.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology

From Middle English eschaunge, from Anglo-Norman eschaunge, from Old French eschange (whence modern French échange), from the verb eschanger, from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre, present active infinitive of *excambiō (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Spelling later changed on the basis of ex- in English.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛkstʃeɪndʒ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪndʒ

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