Permute

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /pə(ɹ)ˈmjuːt/

Definitions

1. To change the order or arrangement of a set of items or elements into different sequences
2. To rearrange a collection of objects or elements in various possible orders or sequences
3. To alter the arrangement of a set of items or elements by changing their order in different ways

Etymology: Latin "permūtāre" meant "to change thoroughly" or "to exchange," built from "per," meaning "through" or "thoroughly," and "mūtāre," "to change." The Latin root is the same one behind "mutate" and "commute," and the sense of swapping one thing for another remained central as the word passed through Old French "permuter," where it meant to exchange or barter, before arriving in Middle English as "permuten." The modern mathematical sense, arranging items into all their possible orders, is a later narrowing of that general idea of thorough change. Each arrangement of a set is a fresh exchange of positions, which is why the word fits so neatly into combinatorics and probability.

Synonyms: rearrange, shuffle, transpose, alter, modify

Antonyms: preserve, maintain, keep