degener

English

Verb

degener (third-person singular simple present degeners, present participle degenering, simple past and past participle degenered)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) Alternative form of degender (“to degenerate”).
   • 1596, Edm[und] Spenser, “An Hymne of Heavenly Love”, in Fowre Hymnes, London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC:

     degenering to hate

Latin

Etymology

From dē- +‎ genus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdeː.ɡɛ.nɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪ɛː.d͡ʒe.ner]

Adjective

dēgener (genitive dēgeneris); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. of inferior stock, low-born
2. inferior to one’s predecessors, degenerate

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	dēgener			dēgenerēs	dēgeneria
genitive	dēgeneris			dēgenerium dēgenerum
dative	dēgenerī			dēgeneribus
accusative	dēgenerem	dēgener		dēgenerēs	dēgeneria
ablative	dēgenerī			dēgeneribus
vocative	dēgener			dēgenerēs	dēgeneria

❇ Neut. nom. pl., acc. pl. and voc. pl. are not attested in Classical Latin, but they are attested in Modern Latin.

Derived terms

• dēgenerō

References

• “degener”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “degener”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “degener”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• degener in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication