Degeneration

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪˌdÊ’É›nəˈɹeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Origin

From French dégénération, from Latin degeneratio.

Full definition of degeneration

Noun

1. (uncountable) The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
• 1913, B. H. Carrol, An Interpretation of the English Bible,The modern cry of "more liberty and less creed" is a degeneration from a vertebrate to a jellyfish.
2. (uncountable) That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure.fatty degeneration of the liver
3. (uncountable) Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
4. (countable) A thing that has degenerated.
• Sir Thomas Brownecockle, aracus, ... and other degenerations

Synonyms

• (process or state of growing worse) decline, degradation, debasement,degeneracy, deterioration

Related terms

• degenerate