dissipation

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (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:

     without loss or dissipation of the matter

   • a. 1677 (date written), 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:

     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, 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.

   • 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], “chapter VIII”, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

     He neither wept nor prayed; he cursed and defied: execrated God and man, and gave himself up to reckless dissipation.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad, →OL:

     [...] 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:

     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
• Japanese: 放蕩 (ja) (ほうとう, hōtō), 自堕落 (ja) (じだらく, jidaraku)
• 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

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.