I. də̇ˈjen(ə)rəsē, dēˈ-, -si noun
( -es )
Etymology: degenera te + -cy
1.
a. : the state of being degenerate : degradation , debasement
centuries of degeneracy and transition — H.O.Taylor
would it have committed suicide in an isolated act of intellectual and moral degeneracy — H.J.Morgenthau
b. : a state or instance of deteriorated or disintegrated energy or control
simplifications and even degeneracies — J.A.Thomson
2. : the process of becoming degenerate : a decline to inferior standards of behavior, morality, culture, or art
our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid — Abraham Lincoln
moral degeneracy followed intellectual degeneration
how can we prevent the degeneracy of man in modern civilization — Alexis Carrel
3. : sexual perversion
II. noun
: the coding of an amino acid by more than one codon of the genetic code