Hypertext Webster Gateway: "degenerated"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Degenerate \De*gen"er*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Degenerated};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Degenerating}.]
1. To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was
originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner,
or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to
deteriorate.
When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into
insolence and impiety. --Tillotson.
2. (Biol.) To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy
structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.
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