degenero Latin · revision 32227

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *ǵenh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [deːˈɡɛ.nɛ.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [deˈd͡ʒɛː.ne.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēgenerō''' (present infinitive dēgenerāre, perfect active dēgenerāvī, supine dēgenerātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ Valerius Maximus has a passive ''dēgenerātum erat''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD and the TLL take it as [[af|la|dē-|genus|t1=down, away from|t2=birth, race]], a verb in -ō;^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short and Wiktionary derive it from the adjective [[m|la|dēgener|t=unworthy of one's race]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|genus]] to [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-o/es-|t=race, offspring]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget]] of [[m|la|gignō]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's first example is Cicero's ''On Ends'', of people who degenerate so far that they seem to be born of themselves.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to fall away from an earlier, especially an ancestral, standard, as Cicero's man who did not fall short of the virtue of his ancestors, and Ovid's “daughter of Pandion, you degenerate!”^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of plants it is to revert to a less developed state, as Virgil's fruits that forget their former juices;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Servius notes that they usually turn worse, sometimes better.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Transitively it means to be unworthy of, as Propertius calls the gods to witness that he has not disgraced his kin, and to cause deterioration, as Columella of love-making that weakens the spirit.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of people falling away from their ancestors.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of plants that degenerate.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of being unworthy of one's kin.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of causing deterioration.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fall away from an ancestral standard, [[m|en|degenerate]], deteriorate; to fall short of.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of plants, to revert to a less developed condition.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Transitively, to be unworthy of; to disgrace.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To cause deterioration in, [[m|en|corrupt]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[degener|alt=dēgener]]

+ * [[genus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}