Definition of "degenerate" in English

adjective

1. (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.

2. (of a person or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities; hence also having bad character or habits, base, immoral, corrupt. ABR

3. Having lost functionality in general.

4. (of an encoding or function) 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.

5. (mathematics) Qualitatively different, usually simpler, than typical objects of its class.

   • A degenerate circle, having radius zero, consists of a single point.

6. (mathematics, of an eigenvalue) Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.

7. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.

noun

1. 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.

verb

1. (intransitive) To lose good or desirable qualities.

   • His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.

2. (transitive) To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.