degradation
noun/ˌdeɡrəˈdeɪʃn/
/ˌdeɡrəˈdeɪʃn/
[uncountable]- a situation in which somebody has lost all self-respect and the respect of other people
- the degradation of being sent to prison
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- (specialist) the process of something being damaged or made worse
- environmental degradation
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense deposition from an office or rank as a punishment): from Old French, or from ecclesiastical Latin degradatio(n-), from the verb degradare, from de- ‘down, away from’ + Latin gradus ‘step or grade’.
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degradation