degenerate

degenerate

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dēgenerātus. Synchronically analyzable as de- +‎ generate.

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun) IPA^(key): /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹət/

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• (verb) IPA^(key): /dɪˈdʒɛnəɹeɪt/

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Adjective

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; an immoral or corrupt person.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3:

     faint-hearted and degenerate king

   • 2013 March 1, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 2, 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.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Verses on St. Patrick's Well

     As you grew more degenerate and base, I sent you millions of the croaking race

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, of an eigenvalue) Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
5. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.

Derived terms

• degenerate conic
• degenerate matter
• non-degenerate

 

Translations

having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal

Bulgarian: изроден (bg) (izroden), дегенерирал (bg) (degeneriral) Chinese: Mandarin: 惡化／恶化 (zh), 墮落／堕落 (zh), 變質／变质 (zh) Danish: degenereret Finnish: rappeutunut, rappioitunut, rappio- French: dégradé (fr), dégénéré (fr) Galician: dexenerado (gl) m German: entartet (de) Hebrew: מנוון‎ (menuvan) Italian: snaturato (it) Latin: dēgener Maori: pūwhenua, tāmatemate Polish: zdegenerowany Portuguese: degenerado (pt) Romanian: degenerat (ro), degradat (ro) Russian: испорченный (ru) (isporčennyj), ухудшившийся (ru) (uxudšivšijsja) Spanish: degenerado (es) Turkish: dejenere (tr), yoz (tr), yozlaşmış, soysuz (tr)

having lost good or desirable qualities

Danish: degenereret Finnish: rappeutunut, rappioitunut, rappio- French: dégradé (fr), dégénéré (fr) Galician: dexenerado (gl) m German: widernatürlich (de), dekadent (de), degeneriert (de), entartet (de) Hungarian: elfajult Italian: snaturato (it), scellerato (it), degenerato (it) Maori: pūwhenua Polish: zdegenerowany, zwyrodniały (pl) Portuguese: degenerado (pt) Scottish Gaelic: daoidh m, truaillte m Russian: выродившийся (ru) (vyrodivšijsja), опустившийся (ru) (opustivšijsja) Spanish: degenerado (es) Turkish: dejenere (tr), yozlaşmış, soysuz (tr)

having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range

Finnish: degeneratiivinen (fi) Russian: вырожденный (ru) (vyroždennyj)

having the same quantum energy level

Danish: degenereret Dutch: ontaard (nl) Finnish: degeneroitunut (fi) German: entartet (de)

Noun

degenerate (plural degenerates)

1. One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature.

   In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.

Translations

one who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature

Bulgarian: дегенерат (bg) m (degenerat) Finnish: rappioyksilö, rappioitunut French: dégénéré (fr), dépravé (fr) German: Asozialer (de) m, Assi (de) m (coll.) Japanese: 退化 (ja) (taika) Maori: pouāwai Polish: degenerat m, degeneratka f Portuguese: degenerado (pt) m Russian: (pejorative) вы́родок (ru) m (výrodok), дегенера́т (ru) m (degenerát) Scottish Gaelic: daoidh m, droch-dhuine m Spanish: degenerado (es), depravado (es) Turkish: soysuz (tr), dejenere (tr)

Verb

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

• degeneration

Translations

to lose good or desirable qualities

Bulgarian: израждам се (izraždam se), дегенерирам (degeneriram) Catalan: degenerar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 惡化／恶化 (zh) (èhuà) Dutch: ontaarden (nl) Finnish: rappioitua, rappeutua (fi), degeneroitua (fi) French: dégénérer (fr), se dégrader German: entarten (de) Ido: degenerar (io) Interlingua: please add this translation if you can Irish: meathlaigh Italian: degenerare (it) Japanese: 退化する (taika suru) Maori: tipuheke, tauheke, pūwhenua Polish: degenerować się (pl), zwyrodnieć pf, wykolejać się impf Portuguese: degenerar (pt) Romanian: degenera (ro), degrada (ro) Russian: вырождаться (ru) (vyroždatʹsja), дегенерировать (ru) (degenerirovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: rach bhuaithe Serbo-Croatian: nazadovati (sh) impf Spanish: degenerar (es), degenerarse Swedish: degenerera (sv), urarta (sv) Turkish: dejenere olmak (tr), yozlaşmak (tr), bozulmak (tr), soysuzlaşmak (tr) Ukrainian: виро́джуватися impf (vyródžuvatysja), ви́родитися pf (výrodytysja), дегенерува́ти impf or pf (deheneruváty)

to cause to lose good or desirable qualities

Dutch: ontaarden (nl) Finnish: rappioittaa, rappeuttaa, degeneroida French: dégénérer (fr), dégrader (fr) German: entarten (de) Portuguese: degenerar (pt) Spanish: degenerar (es) Turkish: dejenere etmek (tr), yozlaştırmak (tr), bozmak (tr), soysuzlaştırmak (tr)

Further reading

• degenerate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• degenerate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Italian

Adjective

degenerate

1. feminine plural of degenerato

Participle

degenerate f pl

1. feminine plural of degenerato

Noun

degenerate f

1. plural of degenerata

Verb

degenerate

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

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deː.ɡe.neˈraː.te/, [d̪eːɡɛnɛˈräːt̪ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /de.d͡ʒe.neˈra.te/, [d̪ed͡ʒeneˈräːt̪e]

Verb

dēgenerāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēgenerō