entropy

noun en·tro·py \ˈen-trə-pē\

plural en·tro·pies

Definition of ENTROPY

: a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder, that is a property of the system's state, and that varies directly with any reversible change in heat in the system and inversely with the temperature of the system; broadly : the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system

a : the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity

b : a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder

: chaos, disorganization, randomness

— en·tro·pic \en-ˈtrō-pik, -ˈträ-pik\ adjective

— en·tro·pi·cal·ly \-pi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Origin of ENTROPY

International Scientific Vocabulary ²en- + Greek tropē change, literally, turn, from trepein to turn

First Known Use: 1875

Other Chemical Engineering Terms

alkali, cation, decant, hygroscopic, isotope, oxidize, slurry, solute, viscous

Medical Dictionary

entropy

noun en·tro·py \ˈen-trə-pē\

plural en·tro·pies

Medical Definition of ENTROPY

: a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder and that is a property of the system's state and is related to it in such a manner that a reversible change in heat in the system produces a change in the measure which varies directly with the heat change and inversely with the absolute temperature at which the change takes place; broadly : the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system

—en·tro·pic \en-ˈtrōp-ik, -ˈträp-\ adjective

—en·tro·pi·cal·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb