degrade

See also: dégradé, dégrade, and degradé

English

Etymology

From Middle French dégrader.

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Rhymes: -eɪd

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To lower in value or social position.

   Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.

   • 1858, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter XIV, in History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, book I, pages 563–564:

     […] [William] Prynne was sentenced by the Star-Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar, to stand in pillory at two places in London and lose an ear at each, to be branded on the forehead, to pay a fine of five thousand pounds, and to be imprisoned for life.

2. (intransitive, ergative) To reduce in quality or purity.

   The DNA sample has degraded.

3. (transitive, geology) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Derived terms

• degradation
• degrade gracefully

Translations

to lower in value or social position

• Bulgarian: понижавам (bg) (ponižavam), разжалвам (bg) (razžalvam)
• Catalan: degradar (ca)
• Czech: degradovat (cs)
• Finnish: alentaa (fi)
• German: degradieren (de), herabstufen (de), herunterstufen (de), herabsetzen (de)
• Hungarian: lealacsonyít (hu), degradál (hu)
• Irish: ísligh
• Italian: degradare (it)
• Ladino: (oneself) enkorkovarse
• Latin: obterō
• Maori: whakapāpaku
• Portuguese: degradar (pt)
• Sanskrit: भ्रंशते (bhraṃśate)
• Spanish: degradar (es)
• Swedish: degradera (sv), nedvärdera (sv)
• Welsh: diraddio

to reduce in quality or purity

• Arabic: تَرَدَّى (taraddā)
• Bulgarian: упадам (upadam), деградирам (bg) (degradiram), разлагам се (razlagam se)
• Catalan: degradar (ca)
• Czech: znehodnotit (cs)
• Dutch: degraderen (nl)
• Finnish: heikentää (fi), alentaa (fi)
• German: vermindern (de), abbauen (de)
• Hungarian: lealacsonyodik (hu), degradálódik (hu), bomlik (hu), elbomlik (hu), lebomlik (hu)
• Italian: degradarsi (it)
• Portuguese: degradar (pt)
• Spanish: degradar (es)
• Welsh: diraddio

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

• German: erodieren (de)
• Hungarian: erodálódik, elkopik (hu)
• Portuguese: erodir (pt), desgastar (pt)
• Spanish: erosionar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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

1. inflection of degradar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dégradé.

Noun

degrade n (plural degradeuri)

1. color gradient

Declension

Declension of degrade

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) degrade	degradeul	(niște) degradeuri	degradeurile
genitive/dative	(unui) degrade	degradeului	(unor) degradeuri	degradeurilor
vocative	degradeule		degradeurilor

Spanish

Verb

degrade

1. inflection of degradar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative