degenerate
adjectivenounverbattested in dialogue
- //dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt//
- //dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹeɪt//
Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
adjective
- 1
Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
- 2
Having lost good or desirable qualities; hence also having bad character or habits, base, immoral, corrupt.
Farwell faint-hearted and degenerate King, / In whose cold blood no sparke of Honor bides.
But what can Cato do Againſt a World, a baſe degenerate World, That courts the Yoke, and bows the Neck to Cæſar?
As you grew more degenerate and base, / I sent you millions of the croaking race
If my boy is not tempted to gamble at a fashionable card party he will never learn from the degenerate, blackleg gamblers in the joint.
- 3
Having lost functionality in general.
It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.
- 4
Having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range.
The genetic code is degenerate because a single amino acid can be coded by one of several codons.
- 5
Qualitatively different, usually simpler, than typical objects of its class.
A degenerate circle, having radius zero, consists of a single point.
We now apply the geometrical construction explained in the appendix to the degenerate triangle ABC.
- 6
Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
- 7
Having the same quantum energy level.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin dēgenerātus. See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
noun
- 1
One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person.
In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.
The undeveloped or mysterically confused thought which exists in savages is fully exemplified in the childish or crazy atavistic anthropomorphism and symbolism so prevalent among degenerates.
After all, a lot of old standards would judge us all a nation of degenerates, with our phone-gambling and modern art and cereal commercials featuring multiracial families.
Etymology
From a substantivation of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. Compare French dégénéré.
verb
- 1
To lose good or desirable qualities.
His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.
Another bird quickly learned to imitate the song of a canary that was mated with it, but as the parrakeet improved in the performance the canary degenerated, and came at last to mingle the other bird's harsh chitterings with its own proper music.
The haploid ovum is now called an ootid (Fig. 8—7). The second polar body degenerates, sometimes dividing before it dies.
Cumaratunga was so furious that he intensified his campaign for revitalizing the traditional practices of asweddumization, so that neglected arable land could be rehabilitated, and a degenerating economy restructured and rejuvenated.
- 2
To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.
Etymology
From Latin degenerō + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare Italian degenerare, French dégénérer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, degener). By surface analysis, de- + generate.
Forms
- plural
- degenerates
- comparative
- more degenerate
- superlative
- most degenerate
- past tense
- degenerated
- past participle
- degenerated
- present participle
- degenerating
- third person singular
- degenerates
degenerate · Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
degrading · Causing or likely to cause someone to feel degraded.degree · A completed curriculum of study in tertiary education.Degree · A surname.