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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

degeneration en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/ (UK)

Etymology

From French dégénération, from Latin dēgenerātiō.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable, usually) The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
    • Hence, regional soil degenerations and podsolization was probably an important factor contributing to the retrogressive change in the forest composition at the end of the mesocratic phase.. 1987, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae, page 10:
    • Emmanuel Macron sounded like a man in grief. Not angry, not defiant, just a little triste. Europe, he lamented, was suffering a “degeneration of democracy”. 2025 October 12, Simon Tisdall, quoting Emmanuel Macron, “France is not alone in its crisis of political faith – belief in a democratic world is vanishing”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
    • The modern cry of "more liberty and less creed" is a degeneration from a vertebrate to a jellyfish. 1913, B. H. Carrol, An Interpretation of the English Bible:
  2. (uncountable, usually) 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, usually) Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
  4. (countable, usually) A thing that has degenerated.
    • cockle, aracus, […] and other degenerations 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
degenerations Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

myelodegeneration · hepatolenticular degeneration · osteodegeneration · microdegeneration · myodegeneration · Wallerian degeneration · degenerationist · macular degeneration · predegeneration · cytodegeneration · degenerationism · vasodegeneration · nondegeneration · hyaline degeneration · biodegeneration · citrus vein phloem degeneration · neurodegeneration

Relateds

degenerate · degenerative

Synonyms

decline (process or state of growing worse) · degradation (process or state of growing worse) · decadence (process or state of growing worse) · deterioration (process or state of growing worse) · degeneracy (process or state of growing worse) · debasement (process or state of growing worse) · nerf

Translations (68)

hi अपघटन (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ro degenerare (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · nn degenerasjon (process or state of growing worse) · fi degeneraatio (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · de Degeneration (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · ro degradare (process or state of growing worse) · ru дегенера́ция (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · it degenerazione (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · hu hanyatlás (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · he התנוונות (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ja 悪化 (process or state of growing worse) · hu degeneráció (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · de Entartung (process or state of growing worse) · gl dexeneración (something degenerated) · fi rappeuma (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · he החמרה (process or state of growing worse) · es degeneración (process or state of growing worse) · fi rappeutuminen (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · hu elkorcsosulás (process or state of growing worse) · fr dégénération (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ru вырожде́ние (process or state of growing worse) · es degeneración (something degenerated) · pl zwyrodnienie (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · nn degenerasjon (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · nb degenerasjon (process or state of growing worse) · gl dexeneración (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · pl degeneracja (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · ru дегенера́ция (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ca degeneració (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · es degeneración (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · ru упа́док (process or state of growing worse) · es degeneración (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · pl zwyrodnienie (process or state of growing worse) · gl dexeneración (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · bg дегенера́ция (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · ro degenerare (process or state of growing worse) · pl degeneracja (process or state of growing worse) · pt degeneração (process or state of growing worse) · pt degeneração (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · gl dexeneración (process or state of growing worse) · nb degenerasjon (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ru вырожде́ние (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · pt degeneração (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · fr dégénérescence (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · hu elfajulás (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · hi अपघटन (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · fr dégénération (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · hu degeneráltság (process or state of growing worse) · nb degenerasjon (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · nn degenerasjon (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · ro degenerări (process or state of growing worse) · da forfald (process or state of growing worse) · da degeneration (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · cmn 退化 (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · it degenerazione (process or state of growing worse) · ca degeneració (process or state of growing worse) · fi rappeuma (something degenerated) · ga meathlú (process or state of growing worse) · da degeneration (process or state of growing worse) · da degeneration (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · cmn 惡化 /恶化 (process or state of growing worse) · ro degenerare (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · ja 退化 (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · cmn 退行 (process or state of growing worse) · he דגנרציה (condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become diminished) · fr dégénérescence (gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants) · fi rappeutuminen (process or state of growing worse) · bg израждане (process or state of growing worse)