permutation

[pur-myoo-tey-shuhn]

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.

permutation

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• permutational adjective
• permutationist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of permutation¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of permutation¹

C14: from Latin permūtātiō, from permūtāre to change thoroughly; see _mutation

Example Sentences

Here in Chicago, every coffee shop worth its salt now ladles out some steaming permutation of oat mush with a swirl of tahini or jam, SQIRL-style.

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BBC Sport analyses the permutations for each player and who could potentially stop them.

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And are the events of the play permutations spit out by a computer or representations of a protagonist’s considered dramatic actions?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Houser went on to explain that there are a few different permutations of deputization the administration could pursue, including deputizing National Guard troops or local law enforcement before they start using private contractors.

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That is half of the division with something at stake, so we have taken a look at the permutations, of which there are many.

Read more on BBC