Where does “degenerate” come from?
Degenerate comes from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenero, from degener meaning "not of noble birth," itself from genus meaning "birth or kind" and de meaning "from," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- meaning "to produce or give birth."
degenerate (English): Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from...
Definitions
- Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from...
Ancestry of “degenerate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | degenero | I degenerate, deteriorate |
| 2 | Latin | degener | of inferior stock, low-born; inferior to one’s... |
| 3 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 4 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 5 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 6 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |
Words derived from “degenerate”
- degenerative
- degeneracy
- neurodegenerative
- nondegenerate
- undegenerate
- degen
- degenerately
- nondegenerative
- nondegeneracy
- heredodegenerative
- degenerateness
- degeneratus
- anti-degenerate
- hemidegenerate
- undegeneracy
- prodegenerative
- antidegenerative
- erythrodegenerative
- dagen
- atherodegenerative
- axodegenerative
- cardiodegenerative
- cytodegenerative
- degeneratively