degeneration

de·gen·er·a·tion  (d-jn-rshn)

n.

1. The process of degenerating.

2. The state of being degenerate.

3. Medicine Gradual deterioration of specific tissues, cells, or organs with corresponding impairment or loss of function, caused by injury, disease, or aging.

4. Biology The evolutionary decline or loss of a function, characteristic, or structure in an organism or a species.

5. Electronics Loss of or gain in power in an amplifier caused by unintentional negative feedback.

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degeneration

Noun

1. the process of degenerating

2. Biol the loss of specialization or function by organisms

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	degeneration - the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality devolution physical process, process - a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states; "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls" attack - the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent); "the film was sensitive to attack by acids"; "open to attack by the elements" obsolescence - the process of becoming obsolete; falling into disuse or becoming out of date; "a policy of planned obsolescence" macular degeneration - eye disease caused by degeneration of the cells of the macula lutea and results in blurred vision; can cause blindness
	2.	degeneration - the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities decadence, decadency, degeneracy abasement, abjection, degradation - a low or downcast state; "each confession brought her into an attitude of abasement"- H.L.Menchken
	3.	degeneration - passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form retrogression transformation, transmutation, shift - a qualitative change 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

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degeneration

noun deterioration, decline, dissolution, descent, regression, dissipation, degeneracy, debasement