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degeneration

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degeneration


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Degeneration  \De*gen`er*a"tion\,  n.  [Cf.  F. 
  d['e]g['e]n['e]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 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  degeneration 
  n  1:  the  process  of  declining  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level  of 
  effective  power  or  vitality  or  essential  quality 
  2:  the  state  of  being  degenerate  in  mental  or  moral  qualities 
  [syn:  {degeneracy}] 
  3:  passing  from  a  more  complex  to  a  simpler  biological  form 
  [syn:  {retrogression}] 




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