Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - exchange

 I. noun  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Middle English exchaunge, from Anglo-French eschange, from eschanger to ~, from Vulgar Latin *excambiare, from Latin ex- + cambiare to ~ — more at change  Date: 14th century  1. the act of giving or taking one thing in return for another ; trade an ~ of prisoners  2.  a. the act or process of substituting one thing for another  b. reciprocal giving and receiving  3. something offered, given, or received in an ~  4.  a. funds payable currently at a distant point either in a foreign currency or in domestic currency  b.  (1) interchange or conversion of the money of two countries or of current and uncurrent money with allowance for difference in value  (2) ~ rate  (3) the amount of the difference in value between two currencies or between values of a particular currency at two places  c. instruments (as checks or bills of ~) presented in a clearinghouse for settlement  5. a place where things or services are ~d: as  a. an organized market or center for trading in securities or commodities  b. a store or shop specializing in merchandise usually of a particular type  c. a cooperative store or society  d. a central office in which telephone lines are connected to permit communication  II. verb  (~d; exchanging)  Date: 15th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to part with, give, or transfer in consideration of something received as an equivalent  b. to have replaced by other merchandise ~d the shirt for one in a larger size  2. to part with for a substitute exchanging future security for immediate pleasure  3. to give and receive reciprocally ~ gifts  intransitive verb  1. to pass or become received in ~  2. to engage in an ~  • ~ability noun  • ~able adjective  • ~r noun