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degenerate - 9 dictionary results
de⋅gen⋅er⋅ate
[v. di-jen-uh-reyt; adj., n. di-jen-er-it]
verb, -at⋅ed, -at⋅ing, adjective, noun –verb (used without object)
| 1. | to fall below a normal or desirable level in physical, mental, or moral qualities; deteriorate: The morale of the soldiers degenerated, and they were unable to fight. |
| 2. | to diminish in quality, esp. from a former state of coherence, balance, integrity, etc.: The debate degenerated into an exchange of insults. |
| 3. | Pathology. to lose functional activity, as a tissue or organ. |
| 4. | Evolution. (of a species or any of its traits or structures) to revert to a simple, less highly organized, or less functionally active type, as a parasitic plant that has lost its taproot or the vestigial wings of a flightless bird. |
–verb (used with object)
| 5. | to cause degeneration in; bring about a decline, deterioration, or reversion in. |
–adjective
| 6. | having fallen below a normal or desirable level, esp. in physical or moral qualities; deteriorated; degraded: a degenerate king. |
| 7. | having lost, or become impaired with respect to, the qualities proper to the race or kind: a degenerate vine. |
| 8. | characterized by or associated with degeneracy: degenerate times. |
| 9. | Mathematics. pertaining to a limiting case of a mathematical system that is more symmetrical or simpler in form than the general case. |
| 10. | Physics.
|
–noun
| 11. | a person who has declined, as in morals or character, from a type or standard considered normal. |
| 12. | a person or thing that reverts to an earlier stage of culture, development, or evolution. |
| 13. | a sexual deviate. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To degenerate
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Degenerate
De*gen"er*ate\, a. [L. degeneratus, p. p. of degenerare to degenerate, cause to degenerate, fr. degener base, degenerate, that departs from its race or kind; de- + genus race, kind. See Kin relationship.] Having become worse than one's kind, or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low. Faint-hearted and degenerate king. --Shak. A degenerate and degraded state. --Milton. Degenerate from their ancient blood. --Swift. These degenerate days. --Pope. I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? --Jer. ii. 21.Degenerate
De*gen"er*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Degenerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Degenerating.]1. To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner, or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to deteriorate. When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into insolence and impiety. --Tillotson. 2. (Biol.) To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : degenerate
Spanish:
degenerado,
German:
verkommen,
Japanese:
堕落した
degenerate (adj.)
1494, from L. degeneratus, pp. of degenerare "depart from one's kind, fall from ancestral quality," from phrase de genere, from genus (gen. generis) "birth, descent" (see genus). The verb is from 1545; the noun is 1555.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1de·gen·er·ate
Pronunciation: di-'jen-(&-)r&t
Function: adjective
1 a : having declined (as innature, character, structure, or function) from an ancestral or former state; especially : having deteriorated progressively (as in the process of evolution) especially through loss ofstructure and function b : having sunk to a lower and usually corrupt and vicious state
2 : having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also : being such a codon
Main Entry: 2de·gen·er·ate
Pronunciation: di-'jen-&-"rAt
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: -at·ed;-at·ing
1 : to sink into a low intellectual or moral state
2 : to decline from a former thriving state or from standards proper to a species orrace
3 : to evolve or develop into a less functionally active form
Main Entry: 3de·gen·er·ate
Pronunciation: di-'jen-(&-)r&t
Function: noun
: one that is degenerate: as a : one degraded from the normal moral standard b : a sexual pervert
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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degenerate de·gen·er·ate (dĭ-jěn'ər-ĭt)
adj.
- Characterized by degeneration, as of tissue, a cell, or an organ.
- Having lost one or more highly developed functions, characteristics, or structures through evolution.
To undergo the process of degeneration.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.


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