Degenerate



GRE 蓝宝 Barron 考研

解释

GRE 红宝书

• v. 退步; 堕落
• ［英］ v. 退步 ( to lose normal or higher qualities) ; 堕落 ( to decline or become debased morally)
• ［记］ de+gener ( 种类) +ate -> 变种 -> 退步
• ［同］ 同根词: regenerate ( 使新生) , generation ( 一代人)

Webster Collegiate

I. adjective

• Etymology: Middle English degenerat, from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare to degenerate, from de- + gener-, genus race, kind — more at kin
• Date: 15th century
• 1.
  • a. having declined or become less specialized (as in nature, character, structure, or function) from an ancestral or former state
  • b. having sunk to a condition below that which is normal to a type; especially having sunk to a lower and usually corrupt and vicious state
  • c. degraded 2
• 2. being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case <a degenerate hyperbola>
• 3. characterized by atoms stripped of their electrons and by very great density <degenerate matter>; also consisting of degenerate matter <a degenerate star>
• 4. having two or more states or subdivisions <degenerate energy level>
• 5. having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also being such a codon
• Synonyms: see vicious
• ? degenerately adverb
• ? degenerateness noun

II. verb

• Date: 1545
• intransitive verb
  • 1. to pass from a higher to a lower type or condition ; deteriorate
  • 2. to sink into a low intellectual or moral state
  • 3. to decline in quality <the poetry gradually degenerates into jingles>
  • 4. to decline from a condition or from the standards of a species, race, or breed
  • 5. to evolve or develop into a less autonomous or less functionally active form <degenerated into dependent parasites>
• transitive verb
  • to cause to degenerate

III. noun

• Date: 1555
• one that is degenerate: as
  • a. one degraded from the normal moral standard
  • b. a sexual pervert
  • c. one showing signs of reversion to an earlier culture stage

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