dissipere

Dissipere is a Latin verb meaning to scatter, disperse, dissipate, or waste. It can refer to physically dispersing objects or crowds, as well as to the figurative wasting of time, effort, or resources. In Latin dictionaries the infinitive is commonly given as dissipāre, and the principal parts are dissipō, dissipāre, dissipāvī, dissipātum. The verb belongs to the first conjugation, so its standard present tense forms are dissipō, dissipās, dissipat, dissipāmus, dissipātis, dissipant; the imperfect is dissipābam, dissipābās, dissipābat, dissipābāmus, dissipābātis, dissipābant; the perfect is dissipāvī, dissipāvistī, dissipāvit, dissipāvimus, dissipāvīstis, dissipāvērunt. The supine is dissipātum, and the perfect passive participle is dissipātus, used to form passive constructions.

Usage and nuance: dissipere commonly conveys breaking apart or destroying unity, whether by scattering physical matter, dispersing a group, or exhausting resources. It also appears in figurative senses such as dissipating hope or energy. The verb is productive in classical prose and poetry for both concrete and abstract dispersion, and it has given rise to the English verb dissi pate, with the same core sense of wasting or dissipating.

Examples: Spēs dissipāta est. (Hope has been dissipated.) Pecūnia dissipāta est. (The money was squandered.) Other contexts include dissipāre a crowd, dissipāre calor (to dissipate heat) in more technical or metaphorical usages.

Cognate and related forms: the English word dissipate derives from Latin dissipāre. Related participial forms include dissipātus and dissipātum, used in various passive or adjectival constructions.