Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-GEN'ER-ATE, a.

1. Having fallen from a perfect or good state into a less excellent or worse state; having lost something of the good qualities possessed; having declined in natural or moral worth. The degenerate plant of a strange vine. – Jer. ii.
2. Low; base; mean; corrupt; fallen from primitive or natural excellence; having lost the good qualities of the species. Man is considered a degenerate being. A coward is a man of degenerate spirit.