degenerate
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degenerate¹
- /dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt/
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Latin dēgenerātus. See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
adjective more degenerate · most degenerate
- Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
- Having lost good or desirable qualities; hence also having bad character or habits, base, immoral, corrupt. Farwell faint-hearted and degenerate King, / In whose cold blood no sparke of Honor bides.
- Having lost functionality in general. 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 accep
- 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.
- Qualitatively different, usually simpler, than typical objects of its class. A degenerate circle, having radius zero, consists of a single point.
- Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
- Having the same quantum energy level.
degenerate²
- /dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt/
Where it comes from
From a substantivation of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. Compare French dégénéré.
noun degenerates
- One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person. In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.
degenerate³
- /dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹeɪt/
Where it comes from
From Latin degenerō + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare Italian degenerare, French dégénérer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, degener). By surface analysis, de- + generate.
verb degenerates · degenerating · degenerated
- To lose good or desirable qualities. His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.
- To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.
