Degeneration : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Degeneration	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Degeneration
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
degeneration n the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality Synonym(s): degeneration, devolution Antonym(s): development, evolution the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities Synonym(s): degeneracy, degeneration, decadence, decadency passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form Synonym(s): degeneration, retrogression
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Degeneration \Degen`era"tion\, n. [Cf. F. d[82]g[82]n[82]ration.] 1. The act or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse; decline; degradation; debasement; degeneracy; deterioration. Our degeneration and apostasy. --Bates. 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. 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. 4. The thing degenerated. [R.] Cockle, aracus, . . . and other degenerations. --Sir T. Browne. {Amyloid degeneration}, {Caseous degeneration}, etc. See under {Amyloid}, {Caseous}, etc.