Deg`ra*da"tion (?), n. [LL. degradatio, from degradare: cf. F. d'egradation. See Degrade.]
1.
The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop.
He saw many removes and degradations in all the other offices of which he had been possessed.
Clarendon.
2.
The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.
The . . . degradation of a needy man of letters.
Macaulay.
Deplorable is the degradation of our nature.
South.
Moments there frequently must be, when a sier is sensible of the degradation of his state.
Blair.
3.
Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.
The development and degradation of the alphabetic forms can be traced.
I. Taylor (The Alphabet).
4. Geol.
A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, fro etc.
5. Biol.
The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.
The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties.
Dana.
6. Physiol.
Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.
Degradation of energy, ∨ Dissipation of energy Physics, the transformation of energy into some form in which it is less available for doing work.
Syn. -- Abasement; debasement; reduction; decline.
© Webster 1913.