"degeneration" in the noun sense
1. degeneration, devolution
the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality
2. degeneracy, degeneration, decadence, decadency
the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities
3. degeneration, retrogression
passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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