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Webster 1913 Edition


Degeneration

De-genˊer-a′tion

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
dégénération
.]
1.
The act or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse; decline; degradation; debasement; degeneracy; deterioration.
Our
degeneration
and apostasy.
Bates.
2.
(Physiol.)
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;
as, fatty
degeneration
of the liver
.
3.
(Biol.)
A gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
4.
The thing degenerated.
[R.]
Cockle, aracus, . . . and other
degenerations
.
Sir T. Browne.
Amyloid degeneration
,
Caseous degeneration
, etc.
See under
Amyloid
,
Caseous
, etc.

Webster 1828 Edition


Degeneration

DEGENERATION

,
Noun.
1.
A growing worse, or losing of good qualities; a decline from the virtue and worth of ancestors; a decay of the natural good qualities of the species; a falling from a more excellent state to one of less worth, either in the natural or moral world.
2.
The thing degenerated.

Definition 2024


Degeneration

Degeneration

See also: degeneration

German

Noun

Degeneration f (genitive Degeneration, plural Degenerationen)

  1. (pathology) degeneration, morbidity

degeneration

degeneration

See also: Degeneration

English

Noun

degeneration (usually uncountable, plural degenerations)

  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 Browne
      cockle, aracus, [] and other degenerations

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