Standard Lemma guide

permute

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /pə(ɹ)ˈmjuːt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P ER2 M Y UW1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To change the order of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • to permute the data

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: permutate

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To make a permutation of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

change the order or arrangement of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Dyslexics often transpose letters in a word

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: commute, transpose

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change by reversal, turn, reverse

Narrower terms: map, represent

History

Etymology

From Middle English permuten, from Old French permuter, from Latin permūtāre.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: размествам (razmestvam) — to change the order of something
  • French: permuter — to change the order of something
  • German: permutieren — to change the order of something
  • Russian: переставля́ть (perestavljátʹ) — to change the order of something
  • Russian: переста́вить (perestávitʹ) — to change the order of something
  • Spanish: permutar — to change the order of something
  • Bulgarian: пермутирам (permutiram) — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 置換 /置换 (zhìhuàn) — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Finnish: permutoida — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • French: permuter — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • German: permutieren — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Japanese: 置換する (chikan suru) — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Russian: переставля́ть (perestavljátʹ) — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Russian: переста́вить (perestávitʹ) — (mathematics) to make a permutation
  • Spanish: permutación — (mathematics) to make a permutation