entropy

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Derived terms 1.3.2 Related terms 1.3.3 Translations 1.4 External links

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

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[edit] Etymology

First attested in 1868. From German Entropie, coined in 1865 by Rudolph Clausius, from Ancient Greek ἐντροπία (entropia), “‘a turning towards’”) < ἐν (en), “‘in’”) + τροπή (tropē), “‘a turning’”).

[edit] Noun

Wikipedia

entropy (countable and uncountable; plural entropies)

1. (thermodynamics, countable)
   1. strictly thermodynamic entropy. A measure of the amount of energy in a physical system which cannot be used to do mechanical work.
   2. A measure of the disorder present in a system (now becoming obsolete in chemistry [1]).
   3. The capacity factor for thermal energy that is hidden with respect to temperature [2].
   4. The dispersal of energy; how much energy is spread out in a process, or how widely spread out it becomes, at a specific temperature. [3]
2. (statistics, information theory, countable) A measure of the amount of information and noise present in a signal.
3. (uncountable) The tendency of a system that is left to itself to descend into chaos.

[edit] Derived terms

• information entropy
• Shannon entropy
• algorithmic entropy
• negentropy

[edit] Related terms

• extropy

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• entropy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• entropy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• entropy at OneLook® Dictionary Search