adj.
/
dɪˈdʒɛn(ə)rət/
- having lost the physical or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline.
▸Biology having reverted to a simpler form as a result of losing a structure present in the ancestral form.
- Physics relating to or denoting a quantized energy level corresponding to more than one state.
▸denoting matter at such high density (e.g. in neutron stars) that quantum effects are dominant.
n.
/
dɪˈdʒɛn(ə)rət/
a morally degenerate person.
v.
/
dɪˈdʒɛnəreɪt/
decline or deteriorate physically or morally.
Derivative
- degeneracy n.
- degenerately adv.
Etymology
C15: from L. degeneratus ‘no longer of its kind’, from degenerare, from degener ‘debased’, from de- + genus, gener- ‘race, kind’.
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