permutation
noun
Did you know?
Permutation has not changed all that much since it was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-French as permutacioun, meaning "exchange, transformation." Permutacioun traces back to the Latin verb permutare, meaning "to change thoroughly, exchange," and ultimately derives from the Latin mutare, "to change." Other descendants of mutare in English include commute, mutant, and mutual. Permutation also has a specific application in the field of mathematics relating to the ordering of a given set of objects. For example, permutations of items a, b, and c are abc, acb, bac, etc.
Examples of permutation in a Sentence
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 18 May 2026
For now, all permutations go through Makerfield and that result could have a seismic impact.
—ABC News, 16 May 2026
Those balls are thrown into a machine and mixed around, then revealed one by one to create a unique permutation.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 10 May 2026
Take your pick among the almost limitless permutations of red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, pet-nat wine, ancestral wine, orange wine, biodynamic wine, vegan wine, and more.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for permutation
Cite this Entry
“Permutation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permutation. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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permutation
noun
