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permutation
[ pur-myoo-tey-shuhn ]
/ ˌpɜr myʊˈteɪ ʃən /
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noun
the act of permuting or permutating; alteration; transformation.
Mathematics.
- 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.
- any of the resulting arrangements or groups.Compare combination (def. 8b).
OTHER WORDS FOR permutation
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Origin of permutation
OTHER WORDS FROM permutation
per·mu·ta·tion·al, adjectiveper·mu·ta·tion·ist, nounWords nearby permutation
permit, permitted, permittivity, permonosulfuric acid, permutate, permutation, permutation group, permute, Pernambuco, pernancy, pernicious
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use permutation in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for permutation
permutation
/ (ˌpɜːmjʊˈteɪʃən) /
noun
maths
- an ordered arrangement of the numbers, terms, etc, of a set into specified groupsthe permutations of a, b, and c, taken two at a time, are ab, ba, ac, ca, bc, cb
- a group formed in this way. The number of permutations of n objects taken r at a time is n !/(n – r)!Symbol: n P r Compare combination (def. 6)
a combination of items made by reordering
an alteration; transformation
a fixed combination for selections of results on football poolsUsually shortened to: perm
Derived forms of permutation
permutational, adjectiveWord Origin for permutation
C14: from Latin permūtātiō, from permūtāre to change thoroughly; see mutation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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