Commodate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To allow someone the use of one's property or item without expecting payment in return
2. To loan something, especially property, to another person for their use, without charging any fee
3. To let another person use your possession freely for a time, without requiring compensation

Etymology: The verb "commodate" entered English in the late 1500s, around 1595, taken directly from Latin "commodātus", the past participle of "commodāre", meaning "to lend." The Latin verb is built from "commodus", an adjective meaning "suitable" or "convenient," so the core idea is making something fit another's use. Lending was, in a sense, arranging for an object to serve someone else. The English word has a close relative that is far more familiar. "Commodity" comes from the same Latin root, "commodum", meaning "advantage" or "benefit," and the connection shows how a notion of convenience could shift toward goods that were traded for profit. "Commodate" kept the older sense of an accommodating loan, while "commodity" drifted toward things bought and sold.

Synonyms: accommodate, fit, suit

Antonyms: disaccommodate, exclude