'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
- abandon,
- abandonment,
- abjection,
- about-face,
- accommodation,
- adaptation,
- adjustment,
- alteration,
- amelioration,
- apostasy,
- atrophy,
- betterment,
- break,
- change,
- change of heart,
- changeableness,
- closed loop,
- closed sequence,
- comedown,
- constructive change,
- continuity,
- conversion,
- corruptedness,
- corruption,
- corruptness,
- current-control circuit,
- debasement,
- decadence,
- decadency,
- declension,
- declination,
- decline,
- defection,
- deformation,
- degeneracy,
- degenerateness,
- degenerative change,
- degradation,
- demoralization,
- demotion,
- depravation,
- depravedness,
- depravity,
- depreciation,
- derogation,
- descent,
- deterioration,
- deviation,
- devolution,
- difference,
- discontinuity,
- dissoluteness,
- divergence,
- diversification,
- diversion,
- diversity,
- downfall,
- downgrade,
- downtrend,
- downturn,
- downward mobility,
- downward trend,
- drop,
- dying,
- ebb,
- effeteness,
- fading,
- failing,
- failure,
- failure of nerve,
- fall,
- falling-off,
- feedback,
- fitting,
- flip-flop,
- flip-flop circuit,
- gradual change,
- improvement,
- involution,
- lapse,
- loss of tone,
- melioration,
- mitigation,
- modification,
- modulation,
- moral pollution,
- moral turpitude,
- overthrow,
- perversion,
- positive feedback,
- process loop,
- profligacy,
- qualification,
- quality loop,
- radical change,
- re-creation,
- realignment,
- redesign,
- reform,
- reformation,
- regression,
- remaking,
- renewal,
- reprobacy,
- reshaping,
- restructuring,
- retrocession,
- retrogradation,
- retrogression,
- reversal,
- reversed feedback,
- revival,
- revivification,
- revolution,
- rottenness,
- shift,
- slippage,
- slump,
- sudden change,
- switch,
- total change,
- transition,
- turn,
- turnabout,
- turpitude,
- upheaval,
- variation,
- variety,
- violent change,
- wane,
- worsening
Words containing 'Degeneration'
- Degenerate,
- Degenerated,
- Degenerately,
- Degenerateness,
- Degenerating,
- Degenerous,
- Degenerously,
- Amyloid degeneration,
- Caseous degeneration,
- Fatty degeneration,
- Fibroid degeneration,
- Mucoid degeneration,
- Pigmentary degeneration,
- Wallerian degeneration,
- Waxy degeneration,
- hepatolenticular degeneration,
- macular degeneration,
- age-related macular degeneration