Degradation vs. Degeneration — What's the Difference?

The act or process of degrading.

The process of degenerating.

The state of being degraded; degeneration.

The state of being degenerate.

A decline to a lower condition, quality, or level.

(Medicine) Gradual deterioration of specific tissues, cells, or organs with corresponding impairment or loss of function, caused by injury, disease, or aging.

(Geology) A general lowering of the earth's surface by erosion or weathering.

(Biology) The evolutionary decline or loss of a function, characteristic, or structure in an organism or species.

(Chemistry) Decomposition of a compound, especially complex substances such as polymers and proteins, by stages, exhibiting well-defined intermediate products.

(Electronics) Loss of or gain in power in an amplifier caused by unintentional negative feedback.

The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society

The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.

The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.

(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.

Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.

(uncountable) Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.

(geology) A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc.

(countable) A thing that has degenerated.

A deleterious change in the chemical structure, physical properties or appearance of a material from natural or artificial exposure.

The act or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse; decline; degradation; debasement; degeneracy; deterioration.

The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.

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; as, fatty degeneration of the liver.

Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.

A gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.

The gradual breakdown of components of a material, as a result of a natural element, i.e.: heat, cold and wind.

The thing degenerated.

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.

The process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality

The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.

The state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities

Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.

Passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form

A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc.

The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.

Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.

Changing to a lower state (a less respected state)

A low or downcast state;