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Origin and history of degradation

degradation(n.)

1530s, "a reduction in rank or dignity," from French dégradation (14c., Old French degradacion), noun of action from past-participle stem of degrader (see degrade). From 1752 as "state of being reduced from a higher to a lower grade or power;" by 1769 as "reduction of strength, value, magnitude, etc." Related: Degradational.

also from 1530s

Entries linking to degradation

degrade(v.)

late 14c., degraden, "deprive of office, dignity, or honors; reduce from a higher to a lower rank," from Old French degrader (12c.) "degrade, deprive (of office, rank, etc.)," from des- "down" (see dis-) + Latin gradi "to walk, go, step" (from PIE root *ghredh- "to walk, go"). From 1640s as "lower in character, cause to deteriorate." Intransitive sense of "degenerate, deteriorate" is by 1850. Related: Degraded; degrading.

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    abjection
    c. 1400, "humbleness, low state, meanness of spirit, abject situation, groveling humility," from Old French abjection (14c.), from Latin abiectionem (nominative abiectio) "dejection, despondency," literally "a throwing away, a casting off," noun of action from past-participle ste
    dejection
    early 15c., dejeccioun, "unhappy condition, degradation, humiliation;" c. 1500, "state of being depressed or in low spirits...
    ruin
    The sense of "descent from a state of prosperity, degradation, downfall or decay of a person or society" is from late 14c...
    monger
    It is a curious instance of the degradation through which words go, that what was in the Saxon period the designation for...
    officer
    must be of that decisively low, humiliating, and debasing kind, as to lay prostrate the honour of the gentleman, in the degradation...
    degeneration
    c. 1600, "loss or impairment of the qualities proper to the race or kind," also figurative, "descent to an inferior state," from French dégéneration (15c.) or directly from Late Latin degenerationem (nominative degeneratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin degen
    depth
    late 14c., "a deep place, deep water, the sea," also "distance or extension from the top down (opposed to height) or from without inward," apparently formed in Middle English on model of long/length, broad/breadth; from dēp "deep" (see deep (adj.)) + -th (2). Replaced older deopn
    decadence
    1540s, "deteriorated condition, decay," from French décadence (early 15c.), from Medieval Latin decadentia "decay," from decadentem (nominative decadens) "decaying," present participle of decadere "to decay," from Latin de- "apart, down" (see de-) + cadere "to fall" (from PIE roo
    corruption
    mid-14c., corrupcioun, of material things, especially dead bodies, "act of becoming putrid, dissolution, decay;" also of the soul, morals, etc., "spiritual contamination, depravity, wickedness," from Latin corruptionem (nominative corruptio) "a corruption, spoiling, seducing; a c
    subversion
    late 14c., subversioun, "physical destruction, demolition, ruination; overthrow of a system or law," from Old French subversion "downfall, overthrow" (12c.), from Late Latin subversionem (nominative subversio) "an overthrow, ruin, destruction," noun of action from past-participle

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