degenerate
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare (“to degenerate”), from degener (“ignoble”), from de (“from, down”) + genus (“race, kind”); see genus, general.
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
degenerate (comparative more degenerate, superlative most degenerate)
- (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
- 2013 March 1, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, 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.
- 2013 March 1, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 83:
- (of a human or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities.
- (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.
- (mathematics) A degenerate case is a limiting case in which a class of object changes its nature so as to belong to another, usually simpler, class.
- (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal
having lost good or desirable qualities
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having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range
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Noun [edit]
degenerate (plural degenerates)
- One is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature.
- You are a degenerate, boy. You're a disgrace to your ancestors.
Translations [edit]
one is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature
Verb [edit]
degenerate (third-person singular simple present degenerates, present participle degenerating, simple past and past participle degenerated)
- (intransitive) (of humans or systems) to lose good or desirable qualities;
- His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to lose good or desirable qualities
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External links [edit]
- degenerate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- degenerate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Italian [edit]
Adjective [edit]
degenerate f
- Feminine plural form of degenerato
Noun [edit]
degenerate f
- Plural form of degenerata
Verb [edit]
degenerate
- second-person plural present indicative of degenerare
- second-person plural imperative of degenerare
- Feminine plural of degenerato
Latin [edit]
Verb [edit]
dēgenerāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of dēgenerō
