English
degenerate
Pronunciation
  • (adjective) IPA: /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹət/
  • (verb) IPA: /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹeɪt/
Adjective

degenerate

  1. (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
    • faint-hearted and degenerate king
  2. (of a human or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities.
    • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Verses on St. Patrick's Well
      As you grew more degenerate and base, I sent you millions of the croaking race
  3. (of an encoding or function) 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.
  4. (mathematics) Relating to degeneracy
  5. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.
Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: вырожденный
Translations Noun

degenerate (plural degenerates)

  1. One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral person.
    In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.
Translations Verb

degenerate (degenerates, present participle degenerating; past and past participle degenerated)

  1. (intransitive) To lose good or desirable qualities.
    His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.
    • 1870, Shirley Hibberd, Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste (page 170)
      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.
  2. (transitive) To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.
Translations Translations

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