degradation









degradation


noun

  1. the act of degrading.
  2. the state of being degraded.
  3. Physical Geography. the wearing down of the land by the erosive action of water, wind, or ice.
  4. Chemistry. the breakdown of an organic compound.

noun

  1. the act of degrading or the state of being degraded
  2. a state of degeneration, squalor, or poverty
  3. some act, constraint, etc, that is degrading
  4. the wearing down of the surface of rocks, cliffs, etc, by erosion, weathering, or some other process
  5. chem a breakdown of a molecule into atoms or smaller molecules
  6. physics an irreversible process in which the energy available to do work is decreased
  7. RC Church the permanent unfrocking of a priest
n.

1530s, from French dégradation (14c., Old French degradacion), from Medieval Latin degradationem (nominative degradatio), noun of action from past participle stem of degradare (see degrade).

n.

  1. Progressive decomposition of a chemical compound into a less complex compound.
53 queries 0.569