Wiktionary

degenerate

English edit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology edit

Learned borrowing from Latin dēgenerātus. By surface analysis, de- +‎ generate.

Pronunciation edit

  • (adjective, noun) IPA(key): /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹɪt/
    • Audio (US)(file)
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (verb) IPA(key): /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹeɪt/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Adjective edit

degenerate (comparative more degenerate, superlative most degenerate)

  1. (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
    • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3:
      faint-hearted and degenerate king
    • 2013 March, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 4 January 2017, page 83:
      It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.
  2. (of a human or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities.
  3. (of an encoding or function) Having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range.
    The genetic code is degenerate because a single amino acid can be coded by one of several codons.
  4. (mathematics) Qualitatively different, usually simpler, than typical objects of its class.
    A degenerate circle, having radius zero, consists of a single point.
    • 1921, A. Hay, “Phase Transformation and Phase Balancing”, in Journal of the Indian Institute of Science, volume 4, page 102:
      We now apply the geometrical construction explained in the appendix to the degenerate triangle ABC.
  5. (mathematics, of an eigenvalue) Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
  6. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Noun edit

degenerate (plural degenerates)

  1. One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person.
    In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.

Translations edit

Verb edit

degenerate (third-person singular simple present degenerates, present participle degenerating, simple past and past participle degenerated)

  1. (intransitive) To lose good or desirable qualities.
    His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.
    • 1870, Shirley Hibberd, Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste, page 170:
      Another bird quickly learned to imitate the song of a canary that was mated with it, but as the parrakeet improved in the performance the canary degenerated, and came at last to mingle the other bird's harsh chitterings with its own proper music.
  2. (transitive) To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Further reading edit

Italian edit

Etymology 1 edit

Adjective edit

degenerate

  1. feminine plural of degenerato

Participle edit

degenerate f pl

  1. feminine plural of degenerato

Etymology 2 edit

Noun edit

degenerate f

  1. plural of degenerata

Etymology 3 edit

Verb edit

degenerate

  1. inflection of degenerare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

dēgenerāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēgenerō

Spanish edit

Verb edit

degenerate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of degenerar combined with te
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=degenerate&oldid=78744233"