Dissipate

//ˈdɪsɪpeɪt// adj, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    dissipated obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To drive away, disperse. transitive

    "August 1773, James Cook, journal entry I soon dissipated his fears."

  2. 2
    spend frivolously and unwisely wordnet
  3. 3
    To use up or waste; squander. transitive

    "The vast wealth […] was in three years dissipated."

  4. 4
    move away from each other wordnet
  5. 5
    To vanish by dispersion. intransitive
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    to cause to separate and go in different directions wordnet
  2. 7
    To cause energy to be lost through its conversion to heat.

    "The traction motors serve as generators when dynamic braking is used, the generated output being dissipated in fan-cooled resistance banks mounted in a removable roof section."

  3. 8
    live a life of pleasure, especially with respect to alcoholic consumption wordnet
  4. 9
    To be dissolute in conduct. colloquial, dated, intransitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the adjective from 1606 to 1765; from Middle English dissipaten, from Latin dissipātus, perfect passive participle of dissipō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), also written dissupō (“to scatter, disperse, demolish, destroy, squander, dissipate”), from dis- (“apart”) + supō (“to throw”). Doublet of dissipe (“to dissipate”), now obsolete.

Etymology 2

The verb is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the adjective from 1606 to 1765; from Middle English dissipaten, from Latin dissipātus, perfect passive participle of dissipō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), also written dissupō (“to scatter, disperse, demolish, destroy, squander, dissipate”), from dis- (“apart”) + supō (“to throw”). Doublet of dissipe (“to dissipate”), now obsolete.

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