degrade

See also: dégradé, dégrade, and degradé

English

Etymology

From Middle French dégrader

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈɡɹeɪd/, /diˈɡɹeɪd/

Rhymes: -eɪd

Verb

degrade (third-person singular simple present degrades, present participle degrading, simple past and past participle degraded)

(transitive) To lower in value or social position.
Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.
- Palfrey
  Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar.
(intransitive) To reduce in quality or purity.
The DNA sample has degraded.
(transitive, geology) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Derived terms

degradation

Translations

to lower in value or social position

Bulgarian: понижавам (bg) (ponižavam), разжалвам (bg) (razžalvam)
Czech: degradovat
Finnish: alentaa (fi)
German: degradieren (de), herabstufen (de), herunterstufen (de), herabsetzen (de)
Hungarian: lealacsonyít (hu), degradál (hu)

Italian: degradare (it)
Maori: whakapāpaku
Portuguese: degradar (pt)
Spanish: degradar (es)
Swedish: degradera (sv), nedvärdera

to reduce in quality or purity

Arabic: تَرَدَّى‎ (taraddā)
Bulgarian: упадам (upadam), деградирам (bg) (degradiram), разлагам се (razlagam se)
Czech: znehodnotit
Dutch: degraderen (nl)
Finnish: heikentää (fi), alentaa (fi)

German: vermindern (de), abbauen (de)
Hungarian: lealacsonyodik (hu), degradálódik, bomlik (hu), elbomlik (hu), lebomlik
Italian: degradarsi (it)
Portuguese: degradar (pt)
Spanish: degradar (es)

to reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down

German: erodieren (de)
Hungarian: erodálódik, elkopik (hu)

Portuguese: erodir, desgastar (pt)
Spanish: erosionar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: ^{(please verify)} díghrádaigh
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} degradar (es)

Swedish: ^{(please verify)} degenerera (sv)

Portuguese

Verb

degrade

first-person singular present subjunctive of degradar
third-person singular present subjunctive of degradar
third-person singular imperative of degradar

Spanish

Verb

degrade

Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of degradar.
First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of degradar.
Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of degradar.
Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of degradar.