dissipiert

Dissipiert is the past participle of the German verb dissipieren, meaning to dissipate, scatter, or squander. In everyday German, it can describe wasting time, money, or resources. In scientific and technical contexts, it refers to processes in which energy is spread out irreversibly, typically as heat, light, or radiation.

The term comes from Latin dissipare “to scatter, dissipate,” through French dissiper or direct borrowing into German. The related noun Dissipation is widely used in physics and engineering to denote energy loss due to irreversible processes.

In physics and engineering, dissipation describes the conversion of useful energy into less usable forms. Examples include mechanical friction turning kinetic energy into heat, electrical resistance dissipating electrical power as heat, and dielectric or dielectric-loss processes in optics. Dissipation often accompanies an increase in entropy and a decrease in the system's ability to perform work. In open quantum systems, dissipation is modeled with environmental coupling using tools such as dissipators or Lindblad operators.

In everyday language, dissipieren is also used to mean wasting resources. The term is less common in colloquial German today, with synonyms like verschwenden or vergeuden typically preferred for non-scientific contexts.