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

degradation \deg`rada"tion\, n. ll. degradatio, from
   degradare: cf. f. d'egradation. see degrade.
   1. the act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or
      of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in
      office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a
      peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop.
      1913 webster

            he saw many removes and degradations in all the
            other offices of which he had been possessed.
                                                  --clarendon.
      1913 webster

   2. the state of being reduced in rank, character, or
      reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual
      degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.
      1913 webster

            the . . . degradation of a needy man of letters.
                                                  --macaulay.
      1913 webster

            deplorable is the degradation of our nature.
                                                  --south.
      1913 webster

            moments there frequently must be, when a sinner is
            sensible of the degradation of his state. --blair.
      1913 webster

   3. diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value;
      degeneration; deterioration.
      1913 webster

            the development and degradation of the alphabetic
            forms can be traced.                  --i. taylor
                                                  the
                                                  alphabet.
      1913 webster

   4. geol. a gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and
      banks, by the action of water, frost etc.
      1913 webster

   5. biol. the state or condition of a species or group which
      exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.
      1913 webster

            the degradation of the species man is observed in
            some of its varieties.                --dana.
      1913 webster

   6. physiol. arrest of development, or degeneration of any
      organ, or of the body as a whole.
      1913 webster

   degradation of energy, or dissipation of energy
      physics, the transformation of energy into some form in
      which it is less available for doing work.

   syn: abasement; debasement; reduction; decline.
        1913 webster
see also:
degrade degradation of energy dissipation of energy 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

degradation
     n 1: changing to a lower state a less respected state syn: debasement
     2: a low or downcast state; "each confession brought her into
        an attitude of abasement"- h.l.menchken syn: abasement,
         abjection
see also:
debasement abasement abjection 

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

198 moby thesaurus words for "degradation":
   abandon, abandonment, abasement, abjection, abjectness, ablation,
   abominableness, atomization, atrociousness, banishment, baseness,
   beggarliness, biodegradability, biodegradation, blackballing,
   breakup, bump, bust, casting down, chicanery, comedown, concavity,
   contemptibility, contemptibleness, corrosion, corruptedness,
   corruption, corruptness, crumbling, crumminess, de-escalation,
   debasement, decadence, decadency, decay, declension, declination,
   decline, decomposition, deformation, defrocking, degeneracy,
   degenerateness, degeneration, degradability, degrading,
   demoralization, demotion, depluming, deportation, depravation,
   depravedness, depravity, depreciation, depression, deprivation,
   derogation, descent, despicableness, deterioration, detrusion,
   devolution, dilapidation, diminution, disbarment, discredit,
   disfellowship, disgrace, disgrading, dishonor, disintegration,
   disjunction, disorganization, displuming, disrepute, dissoluteness,
   dissolution, downgrading, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility,
   downward trend, drop, ducking, dying, ebb, effeteness, enormity,
   erosion, exclusion, excommunication, execrableness, exile,
   expatriation, extradition, fading, failing, failure,
   failure of nerve, fall, falling-off, foulness, fugitation,
   fulsomeness, grossness, hauling down, heinousness, hollowness,
   humbling, humiliation, ignobility, ignominiousness, ignominy,
   incoherence, infamousness, infamy, ingloriousness, involution,
   knavery, knavishness, lapse, littleness, loss of honor,
   loss of tone, lowering, lowness, meanness, mildew, miserableness,
   mold, monstrousness, moral pollution, moral turpitude,
   nefariousness, obloquy, obnoxiousness, odiousness, odium,
   opprobrium, ostracism, ostracization, outlawing, outlawry,
   oxidation, oxidization, paltriness, pettiness, pokiness, poorness,
   profligacy, rankness, rascality, rascalry, ravages of time,
   reduction, regression, relegation, reprobacy, resolution,
   retrocession, retrogradation, retrogression, roguery, roguishness,
   rottenness, rust, rustication, scabbiness, scampishness,
   scoundrelism, scrubbiness, scruffiness, scumminess, scurviness,
   shabbiness, shame, shoddiness, sinking, slippage, slump, smallness,
   spoilage, squalor, stripping, stripping of rank, submergence,
   thrusting under, transportation, turpitude, unfrocking, vileness,
   villainousness, villainy, vitiation, wane, wear, wear and tear,
   wretchedness

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

degradation, punishment, ecclesiastical law. a censure by which a clergy man 
is deprived of his holy orders, which he had as a priest or deacon. 

[5] : THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)

degradation, n.  one of the stages of moral and social progress from
private station to political preferment.

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