DEGENERATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does degeneration mean? 

• DEGENERATION (noun)
  The noun DEGENERATION has 3 senses:

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

3. passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form

  Familiarity information: DEGENERATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEGENERATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

degeneration; devolution

Hypernyms ("degeneration" is a kind of...):

physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "degeneration"):

attack (the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent))

obsolescence (the process of becoming obsolete; falling into disuse or becoming out of date)

macular degeneration (eye disease caused by degeneration of the cells of the macula lutea and results in blurred vision; can cause blindness)

Derivation:

degenerate (grow worse)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

decadence; decadency; degeneracy; degeneration

Hypernyms ("degeneration" is a kind of...):

abasement; abjection; degradation (a low or downcast state)

Derivation:

degenerate (grow worse)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

degeneration; retrogression

Hypernyms ("degeneration" is a kind of...):

shift; transformation; transmutation (a qualitative change)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "degeneration"):

abiotrophy (a loss of vitality and a degeneration of cells and tissues not due to any apparent injury)

cataplasia ((biology) degenerative reversion of cells or tissue to a less differentiated or more primitive form)

 Context examples 

Macular degeneration characterized by edema and cystic spaces which may lead to a macular depression or hole.

(Cystoid Macular Edema, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Fibrotic degeneration of the deep connective tissues.

(Deep Connective Tissue Fibrosis, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by fibrotic degeneration of the deep connective tissues.

(Deep Connective Tissue Fibrosis, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

It is characterized by frontotemporal lobar degeneration with accumulation of tau proteins which form Pick bodies.

(Pick's Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

An idiopathic disorder characterized by the degeneration of the aortic media tissue and formation of cyst-like spaces.

(Cystic Medial Necrosis, NCI Thesaurus)

The CBA/J strain carries the gene for retinal degeneration (rd) and has a high gross tumor incidence, including lymphoma, hepatoma, and mammary tumors.

(CBA/J Mouse, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare metabolic disorder characterized by damage of the myelin sheaths in the nervous system and degeneration of the adrenal glands.

(Adrenoleukodystrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

Any weakening or degeneration, especially through lack of use.

(Atrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by inflammation or degeneration of the peripheral sensory nerves.

(Peripheral Sensory Neuropathy, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Inhalation of its vapors can depress central nervous system activity and cause degeneration of the liver and kidneys.

(Carbon Tetrachloride, NCI Thesaurus)