An adiabatic process is a type of thermodynamic process whereby a transfer of energy between the thermodynamic system and its environment is neither accompanied by a transfer of entropy nor of amounts of constituents. Unlike an isothermal process, an adiabatic process transfers energy to the surroundings only as work and/or mass flow. As a key concept in thermodynamics, the adiabatic process supports the theory that explains the first law of thermodynamics. The opposite term to "adiabatic" is diabatic.