Linear order in the context of Cycle notation

In mathematics, a permutation of a set can mean one of two different things:

• an arrangement of its members in a sequence or linear order, or
• the act or process of changing the linear order of an ordered set.

An example of the first meaning is the six permutations (orderings) of the set {1, 2, 3}: written as tuples, they are (1, 2, 3), (1, 3, 2), (2, 1, 3), (2, 3, 1), (3, 1, 2), and (3, 2, 1). Anagrams of a word whose letters are all different are also permutations: the letters are already ordered in the original word, and the anagram reorders them. The study of permutations of finite sets is an important topic in combinatorics and group theory.