What is "permutation lock"

Permutation \Per`mu*ta"tion\, n. [L. permutatio: cf. F. permutation. See Permute.]

1. The act of permuting; exchange of the thing for another; mutual transference; interchange.

   The violent convulsions and permutations that have been made in property.
   --Burke.

2. (Math.)

   1. The arrangement of any determinate number of things, as units, objects, letters, etc., in all possible orders, one after the other; -- called also alternation. Cf. Combination, n., 4.

   2. Any one of such possible arrangements.

3. (Law) Barter; exchange.

   Permutation lock, a lock in which the parts can be transposed or shifted, so as to require different arrangements of the tumblers on different occasions of unlocking.

n. (context dated English) combination lock