Exchanges

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The reciprocal action of trading items, values, or information, where participants engage in a give-and-take relationship occurs frequently in various contexts
2. An interaction where entities mutually transfer goods, services, or knowledge, often to benefit one another, is a common practice
3. The process where two or more parties transfer items or ideas back and forth ; organized markets or venues where commodities, currencies, or securities are bought and sold

Etymology: The noun "exchanges" is simply the plural of "exchange", so its story is the story of that word. The core idea goes back to Latin "ex" (out, from) combined with a Late Latin word "cambiare", meaning to barter or change money. Vulgar Latin, the spoken everyday form, built "excambiare" from these, and French speakers turned it into "eschanger", which then passed into Middle English as "eschaunge" in the medieval period. The English spelling was later reshaped to look like "ex-" plus "change", which is why the word seems to be a simple compound today. The pronunciation followed the new spelling, so the word moved away from its French-shaped sound and toward the "change" we recognize. Once in English, the French-derived word gradually pushed out the native Old English "wrixlan" and its relatives, including the surviving "wrixle", which shows how thoroughly the newcomer took over this everyday meaning.

Synonyms: trades, swaps, interchanges

Antonyms: retention