degeneration
noun /dɪˌdʒenəˈreɪʃn/
/dɪˌdʒenəˈreɪʃn/
[uncountable]- the process of becoming worse or less acceptable in quality or condition
- social/moral degeneration
- Intensive farming in the area has caused severe degeneration of the land.
- The condition causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.
- Speech degeneration often occurs in children who become deaf after acquiring language.
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from late Latin degeneratio(n-), from the verb degenerare, from degener ‘debased’, from de- ‘away from’ + genus, gener- ‘race, kind’.