Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.