də̇ˌjenəˈrāshən, (ˌ)dēˌ- noun
Etymology: French or Late Latin; French dégéneration, from Late Latin degeneration-, degeneratio, from Latin degeneratus + -ion-, -io -ion
1. : the process of passing from a higher to a lower type:
a. : a lowering of effective power, vitality, or essential quality to an enfeebled and worsened kind or state
that degeneration and enhancement were processes that went on side by side in the stream of oral transmission — Douglas Kennedy
of all the dangers that confront a nation at war this degeneration of national purpose … is the greatest — New Republic
b. : a sinking to a despicable issue or disintegration
aimed to prevent degeneration of interservice rivalries into open hostility
c. : modification to a lower or inferior cultural stage
the dance as a spectacle is generally regarded as a product of degeneration , a secularized form of what is really a religious art — Susanne K. Langer
thus by a process of degeneration the original religious insight of primitive man was overpowered and contaminated by demonistic and polytheistic beliefs — David Bidney
2.
a. : intellectual or moral decline tending toward dissolution of character or integrity : a progressive worsening of personal adjustment
that Zola's best novels are studies in degeneration and failure — C.C.Walcutt
b. : degenerate condition : degeneracy
theories explaining artistic genius as rooted in degeneration
3.
a. : progressive deterioration of physical characters from a level representing the norm of earlier generations or forms
suggests that the small features of the modern Bushman may have resulted from a long process of physical degeneration — R.W.Murray
: secondary simplification of a part or organism in the course of generations often to the extent of loss of function or complete disappearance of constituent structures
vestigial organs may be interpreted as the product of degeneration following alteration of habits
: regression of the morphology of a group or kind of organism toward a simpler less highly organized state
the scouring rushes have undergone degeneration from treelike Mesozoic ancestors
parasitisms leads to degeneration
b. : deterioration of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality is diminished or its structure impaired ; especially : deterioration in which specialized cells are replaced by less specialized cells (as in fibrosis or in malignancies) or in which cells are functionally impaired (as by deposition of abnormal matter in the tissue) — compare infiltration
4. : marked decline in excellence of workmanship, originality, technical skill, or decorative quality
degeneration of human figures used in Polynesian decorative art — Journal of the Polynesian Society
5. : the process by which part of the power in the output circuit in an amplifying device is caused to act upon the input circuit so as to restrict the amplification, improve linearity, and reduce distortion : negative feedback — compare regeneration