negentropy
/ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹɒpi/
"negentropy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“negentropy” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The difference between the entropy of a system and the maximum possible entropy of the same system.
Corpus desk
Index EN-negentropy · negentropy · English
negentropy · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | negentropy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹɒpi/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “negentropy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
negentropy is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌnɛɡˈɛntɹɒpi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for negentropy, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 lectur… The correct English form is negentropy, spelled N-E-G-E-N-T-R-O-P-Y.
Definition
- 1The difference between the entropy of a system and the maximum possible entropy of the same system.
- 2The difference between the entropy of a probability distribution and the maximum possible entropy of the same probability distribution.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how negentropy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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 degraded by some irreversible process (thermal conduction, elec…
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.
Etymology
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).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.