degrade
verbUK /dɪˈɡɹeɪd/ · CA, US /dɪˈɡɹeɪd/
Etymology From Middle French dégrader.
1
To lower in value or social position.
- Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.
- […] [William] Prynne was sentenced by the Star-Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar, to stand in pillory at two places in London and lose an ear at each, to be branded on the forehead, to pay a fine of five thousand pounds, and to be imprisoned for life.1858, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter XIV, in History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, book I, pages 563–564:
2
Ergative To reduce in quality or purity.
- The DNA sample has degraded.
- Derived terms
- biodegrade, degradability, degradable, degradant, degradation, degradee, degrade gracefully, degradement, degrader, degradome, degradomics, degradosome, degron, photodegrade