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Webster 1913 Edition
Degeneracy
1.
The act of becoming degenerate; a growing worse.
Willful
degeneracy
from goodness. Tillotson.
2.
The state of having become degenerate; decline in good qualities; deterioration; meanness.
Degeneracy
of spirit in a state of slavery. Addison.
To recover mankind out of their universal corruption and
degeneracy
. S. Clarke.
Webster 1828 Edition
Degeneracy
DEGENERACY
, n.1.
A growing worse or inferior; a decline in good qualities; or a state of being less valuable; as the degeneracy of a plant.2.
In morals, decay of virtue; a growing worse; departure from the virtues of ancestors; desertion of that which is good. We speak of the degeneracy of men in modern times, or of the degeneracy of manners, of the age, of virtue, &c., sometimes without reason.3.
Poorness; meanness; as a degeneracy of spirit.