degradation 
theory, since under more simple conditions of life, where 
nourluunenl is more easily obtained (parasitism), derjra- 
'lnf,'ii ami even the loss of part-* inav hr i.l" advantatir to 
the organism. Claim, Zoology (trans.), I. l>. 
8. In but., a change consisting of abstraction, 
loss, abortion, or non-development of u.-tial or- 
gans. 9. In lit-r., same as nlinli ini-iil. Degrada- 
tion of energy. Sccr>i.T;;i/. =Syn. land 2. Debiisement, 
:.li:i .fiuent, vitiation, depression, disgrace, dishonor, hu- 
miliation. 
degradational (deg-ra-da'shon-al), a. [< de- 
gradation + -fl/.j In n<il. hint., due to degrada- 
tion; lowered in type through degradation; de- 
generated: as, a dtgrmlnliointl form; dryrada- 
tioniil structures. 
degrade idr-grad'), r. ; pret. and pp. degraded, 
ppr. degrading. [< HE. dcgradi-n, < OF. degra- 
der, V. (Uffraait = Pr. dugntditr. di'sijradttr = 
8p. Pg. degradar = It. dvgradare = D. drgrn- 
deren = G. dcgradiren = Dan. dugradtrc = Hw. 
degradcra, < ML. degradnre, reduce in rank, 
deprive of rank, < L. de, down, + gradus, step, 
degree, rank: see grade and degree.'} I. trail*. 
1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank, 
degree, or type. Specifically 2. To deprive 
of any office or dignity; strip of honors: as, to 
degrade a general officer. 
When you disgrac'd ine in my ainhassade, 
Then 1 degraded you from lieing king. 
Shale., 3 lien. VI., iv. 3. 
Both which have been (/<'//'/</<</ in the senate, 
And must have their disgraces still new rubbed 
To make them smart, und lationr of revenge. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, i. 1. 
Prynnc was sentenced by the Star Chamber court to be 
degrndi'd from the bar. Palfrey. 
3. To lower in character ; cause to deteriorate ; 
lessen the value or worth of ; debase : as, drunk- 
enuesB degrades a man to the level of a beast. 
Nor shalt tln.ii. by descending to assume 
Man's nature, lessen or degrade thine own. 
Milton, V. L., ill. 304. 
Shall we lose our privilege, our charter, 
Ami wilfully dei/rade ourselves of reason 
And piety, to live like beasts? 
Shirley, Love's Cruelty, II. 2. 
In the progress of moral truth, the animal passions 
which degrade our nature are by degrees checked and 
subdued. Sunnier, Orations, 1. 174. 
4. In biul. : (a) To reduce in taxonomic rank ; 
lower in the scale of classification : as, to de- 
grade an order to the rank of a family. (6) To 
reduce in complexity of structure or function; 
simplify morphologically or physiologically: as, 
an organism degraded by parasitic habit. 
The degree to which many of the most important or- 
gans in these degraded [cleistogamic] dowel's have been 
reduced, or even wholly obliterated, is one of their most 
remarkable peculiarities, reminding us of many parasitic 
animals. Darwin, Different Forms of flowers, p. 336. 
6. In geol.. to reduce in altitude or magnitude, 
as hills and mountains or icebergs ; wear down, 
as by the weather. 
Although the ridge is still there, the ridge Itself has 
been degraded. Journal of Science. 
The regions within reach of abrading and degrading 
agencies were therefore of sufficient extent for the needed 
Paleozoic sediment-making. 
Amtr. Jmtr. Sci., 3d ser., XXIX. 338. 
6. Iii o/ilics, to lower in position in the spec- 
trum; increase the wave-length of (a ray of 
light), and hence diminish (its) refrangibility,as 
by the action of a fluorescent substance. See 
Anon smii-i'. 7. To diminish the strength, pu- 
rity, size, etc., of. 
Hi-grading the brilliancy of dyed stuff s, or the purity of 
whites. W'orkitluijt It'i-i-ijifit, 1st ser., p. 320. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. It'litt*'-, /)/x.'/rr/<v, etc. (see a&rt*r) ; to dis- 
honor, break, cashier, reduce to inferior rank. 5. To low- 
er, sink, impair, Injure, pervert, pollute. See list under 
dnoM, 
II. intrans. 1. In nut. hint., to degenerate 
in type; pass from a higher type of structure 
to a lower. 2. To degenerate ; become lower 
in character ; deteriorate. 
No doubt vast eddies in the flood 
Of onward time shall yet be made, 
And tbri'in-.l rari-s may (l>-gntil>-. 
Triiiiiiiain, In Menioriani, cxxviii. 
8. In a university, to take, for some particular 
reason, a lower degree than one is entitled to, 
or to avoid taking a degree at the proper or 
usual time ; descend from a higher to a lower 
degree. 
Vtffradinff, or miinjr back a year, is not allowed, except 
in case of illness (proved by 11 doctor's certificate). A man 
d'-gi-tnlin-i for any other reason cannot go out afterwards 
ill Honors. 0. A. Kritted, English Tlliversity, p. 128, note. 
degraded (de-gra'ded), p. (i. 1. Reduced in 
rank; deprived of an office or a dignity. 2. 
Lowered iu character or value; debased; low. 
1500 
The Netherlands . . . were reduced practically to a 
very </*.'/>'"/'/ position. Motley. 
3. In hiol.. ivdiirod iii taxonomic rank, or in 
complexity of structure or function ; brought 
to or being in a state of degradation. 
skulls of the very meanest and most degraded type. 
t'arrar, Language, Iv. 
'1 he I'roto/ou are the most degraded in organization. 
Scunce, IV. 172. 
4. Iii //<., placed upon steps. Also degreed. 
Cross degraded and conjoined. Bee m>i. 
degradement (d-grad'ment), n. [< OP. de- 
gradement, F. dt-gradement (= It. degradameii- 
io), < dujniili-r, degrade : see degrade.} Depri- 
vation of rank or office. [Hare.] 
So the words of Ridley at his deyradement, and hU letter 
to Hooper, expressly shew. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., II. 
degrading (de-gra'ding), p. a. 1. Dishonor- 
ing; debasing'; disgraceful: as, degrading ob- 
sequiousness. 
The Inordinate love of money and of fame are bate and 
degrading passions. Wirt. 
2. Lowering; bringing to a lower level ; wear- 
ing down. -Degrading causes, in atol., those causes 
which contribute to the dissolving and wearing down of 
the elevated parts of the earth's surface, and the carrying 
of these parts down into lower levels, as atmospheric in- 
fluences and the action of rivers and of the ocean, 
degradingly (de-gra'ding-li), adv. In a degrad- 
ing manner, or in a way to depreciate. 
This Is what Bishop Taylor degradinffly calls virtue and 
precise duty. <',,,, ,,f, ,,, Philemon to Hydaspes, i. 
degravatet (deg'ra-vat), v. t. [< L. degravare, 
make heavy, weigh down, < de, down, + gra- 
vis, heavy: see grave*.] To make heavy; bur- 
den. Bailey, 1727. 
degravationt (deg-ra-va'shon), n. [< L. as if 
*aegravatio(n-), < degrarare, make heavy, weigh 
down: see Aggravate."} The act of making 
heavy. 
degrease (de-gres'), v. t.; pret. and pp. de- 
greased, ppr. degreaging. [< de- priv. + grease, 
after F. adgraisscr.] To remove the grease 
from, as from bones in preparing skeletons, 
or from feathers or hair in preparing skins. 
[Rare.] 
degree (de-gre'), [< ME. degre, degree, < OF. 
degre, degret, F. degre = Pr. degrat= Pg. degrdo, 
a degree, step, rank, < L. de, down, -f gradus, 
a step, etc.: see graded and gree 1 . Cf. degrade.} 
If. A step, as of a stair; a stair, or set of 
steps. 
Round was the schap, in manere of com] 
Hnl of degreet, the heigh te of sixty paas, 
That whan a man was set on o degre, 
Be lette nought his felawe for to se. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, I. 1033. 
It is made with Stages and hath Degrees aboute, that 
every Man may wel se, and nou greve other. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 17. 
But when he once attains the utmost round, 
He then unto the ladder turns his hack, 
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend. Shak., J. C., IL 1. 
2. A step or single movement toward an end; 
one of a series of advances ; a stage of progress ; 
a phase of development, transformation, or pro- 
gressive modification. 
We have feet to scale and climb 
By slow degree*, by more and more, 
The cloudy summits of our time. 
Longfelloic, Ladder of St. Augustine. 
Specifically 3. In gram., one of the three 
stages, namely, positive, comparative, and MI- 
perlatwe, in the comparison of an adjective or 
an adverb. See comparison, 5. 4. The point of 
advancement reached; relative position attain- 
ed; grade; rank; station; order; quality. 
Thenne the kerver or sewer most asserve every itlsshe In 
his '''"'. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 360. 
He shold serche, fro defrrc into dean, 
Vn-to know wherhens he descendyd is, 
Duke, Erie, or Baron, or markois if he be. 
Bom. <>/ Partenay (E. E. T. S.), Int., 1. 113. 
Great indeed 
His name, and high was his degree in heaven. 
Milton, P. L., v. 707. 
5. In universities and colleges, an academical 
rank conferred by a diploma, originally giving 
the right to teach. The earliest degree was that of 
maxtt-r, which In the university of Bologna, and others 
modeled on that (as were the faculties of law in all the 
ol-l nnivfiMtirs). was called the degree of doctor. After- 
ward the lower degree of tl>-t>'nninattt (later called bache- 
lor) was introduced, and the intrntu-dmte degree of licen. 
tiate ; but these were not regular degrees, except in the 
faculty of arts. The degree of bachelor was conferred by 
the '* nation" of the f:u-nlty of arts; the others were 
given by the chancellor, by authority of the pope. Thus, 
the im-difval degrees were : (1) the degree of determinant, 
or bachelor of arts, without a diploma; (2) the license; 
(3) the degree of master if arts ; (4) the degree of fiutfr 
degree 
or doctor of theology ; (S) the degree of muter or doctor 
of mcdii iin ; (ii> the degree of doctor of lawn. The degrees 
now iiMiallv .inirrred are bachelor, master, and doctor: 
as, bachelor of arts, divinity, music, or law; master of 
arts; doctor of divinity, law, medicine, philosophy, mu- 
sic, etc. 
He [WolseyJ was imrn at Ipswich in Suffolk, tin- Son of 
a Butcher, sent to Oxford by Reason of his Pregnancy of 
Wit, so soon, that taking there th> in -t ii,.,,,. ,,t Art, he 
was called the Hoy Uatchelor. Hater, Chronicles, p. 261. 
The I'niverslties ceased to teach the systematic theol- 
ogy of the Schools, and the systematic jurinprudem e of 
the Decretals; and the ancient degrees of bachelor and 
doctor of the canon law are known, except during the 
reign of Mary, no more. 
Stubbt, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. .119. 
6. In geneal., a certain distance or remove in 
the line of descent, determining the proximity 
of blood : as, a relation in the third or fourth 
degree. See first extract, and forbidden degrees, 
below. 
In the canon law, degree of relationship is reckoned by 
the number of steps from the person farthest from the 
common ancestor to him ; in the civil law,\by the number 
of steps from one person up to the common ancestor and 
down to the other. Thus, a grand-uncle is related to his 
grand-nephew In the third degree by the canon law. In the 
fourth degree by the civil. Stinumi. 
She was as familiar as a cousin ; but as a distant one 
a cousin who had been brought up to observe defjreet. 
U. Jamet, Jr., Harpers Mag., LXXVI. 342. 
7. In alg., the rank of an equation, as deter- 
mined by the highest power under which an un- 
known quantity appears in it. Thus, if the expo- 
nent of the highest power of the unknown quantity be 3 
or 4, the equation is of the third or fourth degree. 
8. One of a number of subdivisions of something 
extended in space or time, specifically (o) One of 
a number of equal subdivisions on the seale of a meteoro- 
logical or other Instrument, as a thermometer. (6) A unit 
for measuring circular arcs and the angles subtended by 
them at their centers, being the 860th part of a circumfer- 
ence, or the 90th part of aright angle. Considered as angu- 
lar magnitudes, all degrees are equal ; considered as lengths 
of arcs, they are directly proportional to the radii of the 
circles of which they are parts. This manner of dividing 
the circle originated with the Babylonians about 2000 B. c., 
and was brought into use in Greece by the mathematician 
Hypslcles. It was perhaps in its origin connected with 
an opinion that the year consisted of SOU days. The com- 
mon abbreviation or sign (or "degrees " is a small circle ( ) 
placed to the right of the top of the last figure of the num- 
ber of them : as, 45. The degree Ii subdivided into 60 
minutes, and the minute into 60 seconds. The length of 
a degree of latitude is the length of an arc of the section 
of the figure of the sea-level by a meridian, the difference 
of latitude between the extremities of this arc being one 
degree. (See latitude.) It is 68.702 statute miles at the 
equator, and 69.396 at the poles. The length of a degree 
of longitude Is the length of an arc of the section of the 
figure of the sea-level by a plane parallel to the equator, the 
difference of longitude between the extremities of this arc 
being one degree. This 1s nearly proportional to the cosine 
of the latitude, and Is equal to 69.1G statute miles at the 
equator. 
Aftre the Auetoures of Astronomye, 700 Furlonges of 
Erthe aasweren to a Degree of the Firmament. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 186. 
(c) In firith., three figures taken together In numeration : 
thus, the number 270,360 consists of two degrees (more 
commonly called period*), (d) In mimic : (1) One of the 
lines or spaces of the statf, upon which notes are placed. 
Notes on the same degree, when affected by accidentals, 
may denote different tones, as D, Df, and 1% ; and, simi- 
larly, notes on different degrees, as bb and C$, may denote 
identical tones, at least upon instruments of fixed Intona- 
tion. (2) Tin- difference or step between a line and the 
adjacent space on the staff (or vice versa). Occasionally, 
through the use of accidentals, this difference is only 
apparent (see above). (3) The difference, interval, or 
step between any tone of the scale and the tone next 
above or below it, as from do to re, from mi to /a. The 
interval may be a whole step or tone, a half step or semi- 
tone, or (in the minor scale) a step and a half, or augment- 
ed tone. See ttep, tone, internal, ttaf, xale. (To distin- 
guish between degrees of the stall and degrees of the 
scale, the terms ttaf -degree and scale-degree are sometimes 
used. ] 
9. Intensive quantity; the proportion in which 
any quality is possessed ; measure ; extent ; 
grade. 
joure barnes sail ilkon othir wrdde, 
And worehippe god in gud deyre. 
York Playt, p. 68. 
But as there are degree* of sinning, so there are of folly 
in It. Stilliiuijleet, Sermons, I. if. 
Very different excellencies and degrees of perfection. 
Clarke, The Attributes, rill. 
The difference In mind between man and the higher 
animals, great as it is, la certainly one of degree and not 
of kind. burn-in. Descent of Man, I. 101. 
10. Iii criminal law: (a) One of certain dis- 
tinctions in the culpability of thedifferent par- 
ticipants in a crime. The actual perpetrator 
is said to be a principal in the first degree, and 
one who is present aiding and abetting, a prin- 
cipal in the second degree, (b) One of the 
phases of the same kind of crime, differing in 
gravity and in punishment. [U. S.] Accumu- 
lation of degrees. See accumulation. By degrees, 
step by step; gradually ; by little and little ; by moderate 
advances. 
