[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

degeneration \degen`era"tion\, n. cf. f.
   d'eg'en'eration.
   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
see also:
amyloid degeneration caseous degeneration amyloid caseous 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

degeneration
     n 1: the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of
          effective power or vitality or essential quality syn: devolution
          ant: development
     2: the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities
        syn: degeneracy, decadence, decadency
     3: passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form
        syn: retrogression
see also:
devolution development degeneracy decadence decadency retrogression 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

131 moby thesaurus words for "degeneration":
   abandon, abandonment, abjection, about-face, accommodation,
   adaptation, adjustment, alteration, amelioration, apostasy,
   atrophy, betterment, break, change, change of heart,
   changeableness, closed loop, closed sequence, comedown,
   constructive change, continuity, conversion, corruptedness,
   corruption, corruptness, current-control circuit, debasement,
   decadence, decadency, declension, declination, decline, defection,
   deformation, degeneracy, degenerateness, degenerative change,
   degradation, demoralization, demotion, depravation, depravedness,
   depravity, depreciation, derogation, descent, deterioration,
   deviation, devolution, difference, discontinuity, dissoluteness,
   divergence, diversification, diversion, diversity, downfall,
   downgrade, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility, downward trend,
   drop, dying, ebb, effeteness, fading, failing, failure,
   failure of nerve, fall, falling-off, feedback, fitting, flip-flop,
   flip-flop circuit, gradual change, improvement, involution, lapse,
   loss of tone, melioration, mitigation, modification, modulation,
   moral pollution, moral turpitude, overthrow, perversion,
   positive feedback, process loop, profligacy, qualification,
   quality loop, radical change, re-creation, realignment, redesign,
   reform, reformation, regression, remaking, renewal, reprobacy,
   reshaping, restructuring, retrocession, retrogradation,
   retrogression, reversal, reversed feedback, revival,
   revivification, revolution, rottenness, shift, slippage, slump,
   sudden change, switch, total change, transition, turn, turnabout,
   turpitude, upheaval, variation, variety, violent change, wane,
   worsening

Degeneration >> D Words
Degeneration, definition of term: Degeneration
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