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Entropy vs. Atrophy

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Entropy is the uncertainty or disorder in a system. In a technical sense, it is the gradual breakdown of energy and matter in the universe; in casual usage, it refers to degradation or disorder in any situation, or to chaos, disorganization, or randomness in general. The stem -tropy, from the Greek word trope, means “change” or “turn.”

It’s easily confused with a similar-sounding but unrelated word: atrophy, which refers to physical or psychological decline: Atrophy, which serves as a verb as well, stems from the Greek word trephein, which means “to nourish”; the prefix a- indicates antonymic form, as in apolitical or atheism.

Atrophy can also mean poor development or loss of a part of an animal or plant, and in that sense it’s related to dystrophy, which in general refers to a condition resulting from poor nutrition, though it’s more familiar as part of the phrase “muscular dystrophy”; that, by contrast, identifies a hereditary disease that results in wasting away of muscle tissue.

Trophy, however, meaning “a prize” or “a memorial,” is — despite the ph spelling — from trope, not trephein. (It evolved from a second sense of trope as “a rout, a victory.”) It’s related, therefore, to the English word trope, which refers to a figure of speech or a cliché (a “turn” of phrase); the primary sense of that word is “a device or theme,” as in a common and perhaps trite plot element in a war movie or a tearjerker.

Trop- features at the head of other words, too: tropic, referring to the two parallel lines of latitude that cross over the tropics, and tropism, which means “a tendency, inclination, or propensity.” The syllable also appears in numerous medical and scientific terms, such as autotropism and somatotropin.

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3 thoughts on “Entropy vs. Atrophy”

  1. While the etymology and definition of the words “Entropy” and “Atrophy” are different, why not acknowledge the parallel between the message that the two words convey: the eventual and inevitable breakdown of systems over time and the impermanence of all things? One concept that can bridge the gap of entropy and atrophy is oxidation. While using correct verbiage is important, what I find most important, as a creative writer, is the ability to deliver a message and/or convey a concept.

  2. Both entropy and atrophy is the same, an act of returning to it’s former being. Defining this as a breakdown, oxidation, or decay is also true as their antonyms will take over. Think of this as the cycle of Yin and Yang, an endless cycle of wax and wane, consuming each other yet coexisting.

  3. Atrophy is usually associated with friction. microfibrils of the extracellular matter, blood cells on endothelium,,, changes follow the thermodynamics laws. Remodeling of ECM, fibrosis, are the entropy of tissues. Death is the entropy of organisms

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