To understand the meaning of the term dissipate, it is necessary, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can establish that it is a word that derives from Latin, specifically from “dissipare”, which can be translated as “to scatter” or “to vanish”. Exactly this verb is the result of the sum of two clearly delimited components: the prefix “dis-”, which is synonymous with “separation”, and the verb “supare”, which is equivalent to “to throw”.
It is a verb that refers to making something disappear , through the separation or dissociation of its components .
For example: “After the accident, the police tried to dissipate the traffic congestion” , “To prevent the structure from deforming, it is essential to dissipate the energy through some mechanism or procedure” , “Once the clouds had finished dissipating, the game began” .
Synonyms for this term include waste, disperse, spread, evaporate and even volatilize. On the other hand, antonyms include appear and gather, among others.
Dissipating heat is an action that must be carried out on different types of devices or machines to avoid damage to some of their parts. To achieve this objective, it is common to install an instrument known as a heatsink , which allows heat to be transferred to the air. In this way, the temperature of the element that tends to overheat is lowered.
Computers rely on heatsinks to protect components such as the microprocessor and graphics card . As these objects heat up when they are in operation, it is necessary to dissipate the heat: otherwise, they may fail and be ruined. A copper or aluminum heatsink allows the heat to be extracted from the part to be cooled and then expelled into the air.
The word we are now discussing is also widely used in colloquial language. Specifically, it is used to indicate that a fizzy drink, one that has bubbles, has lost its bubbles and, therefore, is no longer as popular. An example of this use would be the following sentence: “The boy did not drink the cola because he said it was dissipated.”
The idea of dissipating is also used to refer to making something, symbolically, cease to exist or disperse : “The mayor took charge of dispelling the journalists' doubts in a conference that lasted more than an hour” , “This defeat is not going to dissipate our hope: we still trust in winning the title” , “The official resigned to dissipate tensions” .
The term “dispel” is also used in the field of literature and culture. A good example of this is the book entitled “The Book of Roads. A Manual to Dispel Doubts, Debunk Myths and Claim Rights”. Rafael López Monné and Xavier Campillo Besses are the authors of this work that aims to make known the historical communication routes in Spain as well as their layouts, characteristics, current state and even relevant events that occurred around them.