- Degeneration
- 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
