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commutator definition

com·mu·ta·tor (käm′yə tāt′ər)

noun

a device that commutates an electric current, esp. a split-ring metallic conductor that spins rapidly with the armature of a DC motor or generator while in contact with the fixed brushes

Etymology: < L commutatus (pp. of commutare, commute) + -or

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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