verb (used without object),de·gen·er·at·ed,de·gen·er·at·ing.
to fall below a normal or desirable level in physical, mental, or moral qualities; deteriorate: The morale of the soldiers degenerated, and they were unable to fight.
to diminish in quality, especially from a former state of coherence, balance, integrity, etc.: The debate degenerated into an exchange of insults.
Pathology. to lose functional activity, as a tissue or organ.
Evolution. (of a species or any of its traits or structures) to revert to a simple, less highly organized, or less functionally active type, as a parasitic plant that has lost its taproot or the vestigial wings of a flightless bird.
verb (used with object),de·gen·er·at·ed,de·gen·er·at·ing.
to cause degeneration in; bring about a decline, deterioration, or reversion in.
adjective
having fallen below a normal or desirable level, especially in physical or moral qualities; deteriorated; degraded: a degenerate king.
having lost, or become impaired with respect to, the qualities proper to the species or kind: a degenerate vine.
characterized by or associated with degeneracy: degenerate times.
Mathematics. pertaining to a limiting case of a mathematical system that is more symmetrical or simpler in form than the general case.
Physics.
(of modes of vibration of a system) having the same frequency.
(of quantum states of a system) having equal energy.
noun
a person who has declined, as in morals or character, from a type or standard considered normal.
a person or thing that reverts to an earlier stage of culture, development, or evolution.
a sexual deviate.
Origin of degenerate
1485–95; <Latin dēgenerātus (past participle of dēgenerāre to decline from an ancestral standard), equivalent to dēde- + gener-, stem of genus race (see genus) + -ātus-ate1; see generate