exchange is an act of giving something to someone, or doing something for them, and receiving something in return; to exchange is to give something while receiving the same type of thing back.
From that core the word branches into specialized senses. With money, exchange is the process of changing an amount of one currency for an equal value of another, the sense carried by rate of exchange and foreign exchange. Between countries, an exchange is an arrangement in which people from different nations visit each other's homes or do each other's jobs for a short time, as in a student exchange. An exchange is also a conversation or an argument, as in an exchange of views. As a place, the word named a building where business people met in the past to buy and sell a particular type of goods, preserved in corn exchange and stock exchange, and a telephone exchange is where phone calls are connected. In British English, a buyer and seller exchange contracts on the sale of a house or land when each signs a copy and gives it to the other.
The word entered English in late Middle English from Old French eschange and eschangier, based on changer, from late Latin cambiare, from Latin cambire, "barter." Its spelling was influenced by the Latin prefix ex-, "out, utterly."
Exchange sits among close neighbors. To 📝barter is to exchange goods, property or services for other goods without using money. To swap is to give something to someone and receive something in exchange. Trade is the activity of buying and selling, or of exchanging goods or services, between people or countries.
Related: 📝Local Exchange Trading System