'Degeneration' definitions:

Definition of 'degeneration'

(from WordNet)
noun
The process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality [syn: degeneration, devolution] [ant: development, evolution]
noun
The state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities [syn: degeneracy, degeneration, decadence, decadency]
noun
Passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form [syn: degeneration, retrogression]

Definition of 'Degeneration'

From: GCIDE
  • Degeneration \De*gen`er*a"tion\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]g['e]n['e]ration.]
  • 1. The act or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse; decline; degradation; debasement; degeneracy; deterioration. [1913 Webster]
  • Our degeneration and apostasy. --Bates. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Physiol.) 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; as, fatty degeneration of the liver. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Biol.) A gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The thing degenerated. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • Cockle, aracus, . . . and other degenerations. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
  • Amyloid degeneration, Caseous degeneration, etc. See under Amyloid, Caseous, etc. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'degeneration'

From: Moby Thesaurus