different between degeneration vs decadence

English

Etymology

From French dégénération, from Latin d?gener?ti?.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??d??n???e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n
• Hyphenation: de?gen?er?ation

Noun

degeneration (usually uncountable, plural degenerations)

1. (uncountable) The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
2. (uncountable) That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure.

   fatty degeneration of the liver

3. (uncountable) Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
4. (countable) A thing that has degenerated.

Synonyms

• (process or state of growing worse): decline, degradation, debasement, degeneracy, deterioration
• (gaming slang): nerf

Related terms

• degenerate

Translations

English

Etymology

From French décadence, from Medieval Latin decadentia (“decay”), from *decadens (“decaying”), present participle of *decadere (“to decay”); see decay.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?k?d?ns/

Noun

decadence (countable and uncountable, plural decadences)

1. A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay

Related terms

• deciduous

Translations

Further reading

• decadence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• decadence in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.