[en.tro.py] n, pl -pies [ISV
[2]en- + Gk trope change, lit., turn, fr. trepein to turn] (1875) 1: a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usu. considered to be a measure of the system's disorder and that is a property of the system's state and is related to it in such a manner that a reversible change in heat in the system produces a change in the measure which varies directly with the heat change and inversely with the absolute temperature at which the change takes place; broadly: the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system
2. a: the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity b: a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder
3: chaos, disorganization, randomness -- en.tro.pic adj -- en.tro.pi.cal.ly adv