Definition:Permutation/Linguistic Note

Linguistic Note on Permutation

The word permutation to mean a bijection from a set to itself is historical, from when the term was reserved for finite sets.

As Don Knuth points out in The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms, Vaughan Pratt has made the suggestion that, because permutations are so important in the field of computer science, they be called perms:

As soon as Pratt's convention is established, textbooks of computer science will become somewhat shorter (and perhaps less expensive).

Sources

• 1966: Richard A. Dean: Elements of Abstract Algebra ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.6$
• 1997: Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.2.5$: Permutations and Factorials: Footnote