permutation Definition
- 1the act of changing the order of the elements of a set
- 2one of the possible orders in which a set of numbers, letters, etc. can be arranged
Using permutation: Examples
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with how "permutation" can be used in various situations through the following examples!
Example
The permutation of the letters in 'cat' are 'act,' 'atc,' 'cat,' 'cta,' 'tac,' and 'tca.'
Example
The permutation of the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are 123, 132, 213, 231, 312, and 321.
Example
The permutation of the colors in the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
permutation Synonyms and Antonyms
Synonyms for permutation
Phrases with permutation
a permutation where the first and last elements are considered adjacent
Example
In a circular permutation of the letters in 'cat,' 'act' and 'tca' are considered adjacent.
a mathematical group consisting of all permutations of a given set
Example
The permutation group of the set {1, 2, 3} consists of the six possible permutations of those numbers.
a square matrix used to represent a particular permutation of a set
Example
The permutation matrix for the permutation (1 3 2) is [[0, 0, 1], [1, 0, 0], [0, 1, 0]].
Origins of permutation
from Latin 'permutatio', meaning 'change, exchange'
Summary: permutation in Brief
A permutation [ˌpərmjʊˈteɪʃn] is the act of changing the order of the elements of a set or one of the possible orders in which a set of numbers, letters, etc. can be arranged. It is often used in mathematics and computer science to describe rearrangements of data. Examples include the permutation of letters in a word or numbers in a sequence. Other related terms include circular permutation, permutation group, and permutation matrix.
