dissipation

English

Etymology

From Middle French dissipation, from Late Latin dissipatio

Pronunciation

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

Noun

dissipation (countable and uncountable, plural dissipations)

  1. The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.
    • Francis Bacon
      without loss or dissipation of the matter
    • Sir M. Hale
      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.
    • P. Henry
      to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and extravagance
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:
      “… 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.
    • 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

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

French

Etymology

From dissiper +‎ -tion

Noun

dissipation f (plural dissipations)

  1. clearing, dissipation, disappearance

Further reading

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