Lexic.us

Definition of Degenerate

1. Adjective. Unrestrained by convention or morality. "Fast women"

2. Verb. Grow worse. "The discussion devolved into a shouting match"

3. Noun. A person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior.

Definition of Degenerate

1. a. 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.

2. v. i. 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.

Definition of Degenerate

1. Adjective. (of qualities) having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to an undesirable and typically abnormal ¹

2. Adjective. (of a human or system) having lost good or desirable qualities ¹

3. Adjective. (of an encoding or function) having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range ¹

4. Adjective. (mathematics) a degenerate case is a limiting case in which a class of object changes its nature so as to belong to another, usually simpler, class. ¹

5. Adjective. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level ¹

6. Noun. One is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature. ¹

7. Verb. (intransitive) (of humans or systems) to lose good or desirable qualities; ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Degenerate

1. [v -ATED, -ATING, -ATES]

Medical Definition of Degenerate

1. 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) Origin: 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. 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. To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type. Origin: Degenerated; Degenerating. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Degenerate

degaussers degausses degaussing degazette degazetting degeiko degemination degeminations degen degender

degendered degendering degenders degeneracies degeneracy degenerate degenerate code degenerate configuration degenerate matter degenerated

degenerately degenerateness degenerates degenerating degeneratio degenerationist degenerationists degenerations degenerative

Literary usage of Degenerate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Projective Geometry by John Wesley Young, Oswald Veblen (1910)
"Degenerate conics. For a variety of reasons it is desirable to regard two coplanar lines or one line (thought of as two coincident lines) as degenerate ..."

2. Journal of Morphology by Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology (1892)
"Certain questions respecting the origin of the degenerate forms naturally arise. ... All of the families known to possess degenerate types are represented, ..."

3. A Treatise on the Higher Plane Curves: Intended as a Sequel to A Treatise on by George Salmon (1879)
"A conic considered as a curve of the second order may degenerate into a pair of lines, or line-pair; in this case the tangential equation found by the ..."

4. The Reptile Book: A Comprehensive, Popularised Work on the Structure and by Raymond Lee Ditmars (1907)
"... Embracing the Most Degenerate of the Lizards—Descriptions of the North American species AFTER the consideration of the several families of agile and ..."

Other Resources: