Degradation to Deism
Degradation
(Deg`ra*da"tion) n. [LL. degradatio, from degradare: cf. F. dégradation. 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 sinner 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, frost 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, or 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.
Degrade
(De*grade") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Degraded; p. pr. & vb. n. Degrading.] [F. dégrader, LL. degradare,
fr. L. de- + gradus step, degree. See Grade, and cf. Degree.]
1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to deprive of office or dignity; to
strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer.
Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar.
Palfrey. 2. To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral,
or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a
man.
O miserable mankind, to what fall
Degraded, to what wretched state reserved!
Milton.
Yet time ennobles or degrades each line.
Pope.
Her pride . . . struggled hard against this degrading passion.
Macaulay. 3. (Geol.) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.
Syn. — To abase; demean; lower; reduce. See Abase.
Degrade
(De*grade"), v. i. (Biol.) To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as,
a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera.
