dissipation

dissipation

English

Etymology

From Middle English dissipacion, dissipacioun, from Late Latin dissipātiō.Morphologically dissipate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

dissipation (countable and uncountable, plural dissipations)

1. The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.
   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:

     without loss or dissipation of the matter

   • a. 1677, Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, OCLC 42005461:

     the famous dissipation of mankind

2. A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in immoral indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness.
   • 18th century, Patrick Henry in a parliamentary debate

     to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and extravagance

   • 1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XX, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 729841413, page 196:

     I rose by candle-light, and consumed, in the intensest application, the hours which every other individual of our party wasted in enervating slumbers, from the hesternal dissipation or debauch.

   • Template:RQ:Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad, OL 1796924W:

     [...] This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, [...]

3. A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention.
   • 1733 May 28, letter from Alexander Pope to Jonathan Swift:

     Prevented from finishing them [the letters] a thousand avocations and dissipations.

4. (physics) A loss of energy, usually as heat, from a dynamic system.
   • 1965 November 6, G. Colombo, “Rotational Period of the Planet Mercury”, in Nature, volume 208, number 575, DOI:10.1038/208575a0:

     They conclude […] the planet will have a final period of rotation between 56 and 88 days, depending on the assumed form of the dissipation function.

Derived terms

• dissipation factor
• dissipation function
• power dissipation

 

Translations

act or state of dispersing

Bulgarian: разсейване (bg) n (razsejvane) Chinese: Mandarin: 散逸 (zh) (san4-i4), (physics) Dutch: verspreiding (nl) f German: Zerstreuung (de) f, Zersplitterung f, Zerteilung f, Auflösung (de) f, Dissipation f Greek: διασπορά (el) f (diasporá) Japanese: 散逸 (ja) (さんいつ, san'itsu) Latin: dissipātiō f Macedonian: распрсну́вање n (rasprsnúvanje), распространу́вање n (rasprostranúvanje), расеју́вање n (rasejúvanje), расфр́лање n (rasfŕlanje) Romanian: disipare (ro) f, dispersie (ro) f, disipație f Russian: расходование (ru) (rasxodovanije), рассеивание (ru) (rasseivanije), распределение (ru) (raspredelenije) Swedish: slöseri (sv) Tagalog: paglilimayon

dissolute way of life

Bulgarian: прахосничество (bg) n (prahosničestvo) Dutch: losbandigheid (nl) f French: débauche (fr) f German: Verschwendung (de) f, Verprassen n, Ausschweifung (de) f, Verschleuderung f, Durchbringen n, Ausschweifungen (de) pl Macedonian: раси́пништво n (rasípništvo) Romanian: dezmăț (ro) n, desfrâu (ro) n Russian: расточительство (ru) (rastočitelʹstvo) Scottish Gaelic: ana-caitheamh m

trifle which wastes or distracts

Dutch: tijdverdrijf (nl) n German: Zeitvertreib (de) m, Ablenkung (de) f

loss of energy

Bulgarian: разсейване (bg) n (razsejvane) German: Dissipation f, Leistungsverlust m, Abführung f, Ableitung (de) f Italian: dissipazione (it) f Japanese: 散逸 (ja) (さんいつ, san'itsu) Macedonian: тро́шење n (tróšenje), расфр́лање n (rasfŕlanje) Russian: рассеивание (ru) (rasseivanije), потеря (ru) (poterja) Spanish: disipación (es) f Tagalog: paglilimayon

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: (please verify) Zerstreuung (de) Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) disipacija (sh) f

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French

Etymology

From dissiper +‎ -tion.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

dissipation f (plural dissipations)

1. clearing, dissipation, disappearance

Further reading

• “dissipation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.