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

Example Sentences

As Leeds head to Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time on Monday, it gives cause to reflect on the numerous permutations of how things could have looked had Revie signed with the Toffees.

From BBC

With the NFL’s conference championship games set — the Rams at Seattle following New England at Denver — three of the four possible Super Bowl permutations are rematches.

From Los Angeles Times

Many of these “heritage Americans,” along with every other permutation of U.S. citizens, decided to fight back on behalf of their immigrant friends, neighbors and co-workers.

From Salon

It's international football on a mammoth scale and with it comes mouth-watering permutations and possibilities.

From BBC

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.

From Salon