permutation -
the act of changing the arrangement of a given number of elements
mathematical operation,
mathematical process,
operation (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods; "the problems at the end of the chapter demonstrated the mathematical processes involved in the derivation"; "they were learning the basic operations of arithmetic"
permutation -
complete change in character or condition; "the permutations...taking place in the physical world"- Henry Miller
permutation -
an event in which one thing is substituted for another; "the replacement of lost blood by a transfusion of donor blood"
The notion of permutation is used with several slightly different meanings, all related to the act of permuting (rearranging in an ordered fashion) objects or values. Informally, a permutation of a set of values is an arrangement of those values into a particular order. Thus there are six permutations of the set {1,2,3}, namely [1,2,3 1,2,3], [1,3,2 1,3,2], [2,1,3 2,1,3], [2,3,1 2,3,1], [3,1,2 3,1,2], and [3,2,1 3,2,1].
