Word.ws English Dictionary

negentropy

Syllables: neg·en·tro·pyUK/ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹɒpi/US/ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹəpi/

negentropy noun: the difference between the entropy of a system and the maximum possible entropy of the same system.

Noun

negentropy (countable and uncountable, plural negentropies)

  1. The difference between the entropy of a system and the maximum possible entropy of the same system.
    • An isolated system contains negentropy if it reveals a possibility for doing mechanical or electrical work: […] A tank of compressed gas in a room at atmospheric pressure, a vacuum tank in a similar room, a charged battery, any device that can produce high grade energy (mechanical work) or be...1956 April, Brillouin, Léon, “Summary of Thermodynamics”, in Science and Information Theory, New York, N.Y.: Academic Press, →OCLC, section 2 (The Two Principles of Thermodynamics; Entropy and...
    • The same magnitude, but with a minus sign, i.e., the measure of macroscopic ordering, the measure of non-uniformity in the distribution of heat, the measure of the differences in temperature—temperature gradients—is called negentropy.1977, Boris G. Kuznetsov, Philosophy of Optimism, Moscow: Progress Publishers, page 35
  2. The difference between the entropy of a probability distribution and the maximum possible entropy of the same probability distribution.
    • Brillouin (1956) made an attempt to link thermodynamic notions to the notions of information theory. To this end he employs the idea of bound information or information consistent with some microstates of a physical system. […] Brillouin has shown that bound information is equal to entropy decrease...1990, Aleksandr I. Zotin, “Thermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Processes”, in Thermodynamic Bases of Biological Processes: Physiological Reactions and Adaptations, Berlin; New York, N.Y.: Walter de...

Examples of negentropy in a sentence

  • Energy contained in food does not really matter, since energy is conserved and never gets lost, but negentropy is the important factor.1956 April, Brillouin, Léon, “Summary of Thermodynamics”, in Science and Information Theory, New York, N.Y.: Academic Press, →OCLC, section...
  • Negentropy is the difference between the entropy of a system and the entropy of the same system at equilibrium (i.e., when it has its maximum possible entropy).2013, John E. Mayfield, “The Evolution of Complexity”, in The Engine of Complexity: Evolution as Computation, New York, N.Y.: Columbia...
  • This is a so called negentropy principle of information, according to which negentropy can be turned into information and vice versa as follows from (1.103).1990, Aleksandr I. Zotin, “Thermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Processes”, in Thermodynamic Bases of Biological Processes: Physiological...

Synonyms of negentropy

Antonyms

Forms of negentropy

pluralnegentropies

Origin of negentropy

From nega- + entropy. A blend of negative + entropy, coined by the French physicist Léon Brillouin (1889–1969). The term negative entropy was introduced by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) in his book What is Life? (1944, based on lectures delivered in February 1943).

Words formed from negentropy

Questions about negentropy

What does negentropy mean?
Negentropy means the difference between the entropy of a system and the maximum possible entropy of the same system.
How do you use negentropy in a sentence?
Energy contained in food does not really matter, since energy is conserved and never gets lost, but negentropy is the important factor.
What part of speech is negentropy?
Negentropy is a noun.
How do you pronounce negentropy?
Negentropy is pronounced /ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹɒpi/ (UK).
What is the plural of negentropy?
The plural of negentropy is negentropies.

Words near negentropy in the dictionary

  1. negawatt
  2. negawatts
  3. Negeb
  4. negentropic
  5. negentropies
  6. negentropy
  7. neger
  8. Negerhollands
  9. Negeri Sembilan
  10. negers
  11. Negev

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: negentropy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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