Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Degeneracy

Degeneracy , noun

[From Degenerate, a.]

1.
The act of becoming degenerate; a growing worse.
Willful degeneracy from goodness. — Tillotson
2.
The state of having become degenerate; decline in good qualities; deterioration; meanness.
Degeneracy of spirit in a state of slavery. — Addison
To recover mankind out of their universal corruption and degeneracy. — S. Clarke