permutation

American  

[pur-myoo-tey-shuhn] / ˌpɜr myʊˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of permuting or permutating; alteration; transformation.

   Synonyms:

   change, transmutation, modification

2. an arrangement of a set of objects or elements in a specific order or placement.

3. Mathematics.

   1. the act of changing the order of elements arranged in a particular order, as abc into acb, bac, etc., or of arranging a number of elements in groups made up of equal numbers of the elements in different orders, as a and b in ab and ba; a one-to-one transformation of a set with a finite number of elements.

   2. any of the resulting arrangements or groups.

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permutation British  

/ ˌpɜːmjʊˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. maths

   1. an ordered arrangement of the numbers, terms, etc, of a set into specified groups

      the permutations of a, b, and c, taken two at a time, are ab, ba, ac, ca, bc, cb

   2.  nPr.  a group formed in this way. The number of permutations of n objects taken r at a time is n !/( n – r )! Compare combination

2. a combination of items made by reordering

3. an alteration; transformation

4. Usually shortened to: perm.  a fixed combination for selections of results on football pools

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Other Word Forms

• permutational
  adjective
• permutationist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of permutation

1325–75; Middle English permutacioun (< Middle French permutacion ) < Latin permūtātiōn- (stem of permūtātiō ) thoroughgoing change. See per-, mutation, permute

Explanation

A permutation is a change or variation, like the many possible permutations of hair color you get when you start experimenting with different dyes. Permutation is made of the prefix per for "thoroughly" and mutation, which means “change.” A permutation is a thorough change of something, like a substitution. Asking a waiter to give you sweet potato fries instead of regular fries is a permutation. Switching hats with a friend is a permutation. If you switch hats with five of your friends, you'll have many fashion permutations to choose from. Permutations are also like replacements or switches.

Example Sentences

But take the examples given of the Formal Obverse or Permutation, "All men are fallible".

From Logic, Inductive and Deductive by Minto, William

Permutation is equally applicable to all the four forms of proposition.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

There are three simple forms of immediate inference, namely Opposition, Conversion and Permutation.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

In town, the last subject in the book was "Permutation," to which you gave the mere look its essentially frivolous nature deserved.

From Back Home by Wood, Eugene

Most important advances have been made during the century in Combination or Permutation Locks and Time Locks.

From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William Henry