Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - degenerate

 I. adjective  Etymology: Middle English degenerat, from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare to ~, 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 ~ hyperbola  3. characterized by atoms stripped of their electrons and by very great density ~ matter; also consisting of ~ matter a ~ star  4. having two or more states or subdivisions ~ energy level  5. having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also being such a codon  Synonyms: see vicious  • ~ly adverb  • ~ness 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 ~s 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 ~d into dependent parasites  transitive verb to cause to ~  III. noun  Date: 1555 one that is ~: as  a. one degraded from the normal moral standard  b. a sexual pervert  c. one showing signs of reversion to an earlier culture stage