Degeneration

[deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]

/[deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Degeneration” is uncommon German (frequency #56,879 among 2,764 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,879
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rückbildung, Entartung

Corpus desk

Index DE-degeneration · Degeneration · German

Degeneration · rank #56,879 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,879
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH Delikatessen

Nearest frequency peer: Delikatessen (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Degeneration“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Degeneration“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Degeneration
PropertyValue
HeadwordDegeneration
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]
Letters12
Frequency rank#56,879
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Degeneration“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Degenerationfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Delikatessen“ (#56,880), „darstellbar“ (#56,876), „Demütigungen“ (#56,882). Unter 2,764 „D“-Lemmata liegt „Degeneration“ bei #56,879. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Degeneration is uncommon German at frequency #56,879 among 2,764 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Rückbildung, Entartung".

Degeneration doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Degeneration, spelled D-E-G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rückbildung, Entartung

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Degeneration appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Im Alter leiden viele Menschen an einer Degeneration der Knochensubstanz.

Synonyms

AbstiegVerfall

Antonyms

Regeneration

This word in other languages

degeneration(English)degeneración(Español)dégénérescence(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Degeneration"?
"Degeneration" is spelled D-E-G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is [deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn].
What does "Degeneration" mean?
As a noun, "Degeneration" means: Rückbildung, Entartung
How do you pronounce "Degeneration"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Degeneration" is [deɡeneʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Degeneration" come from?
"Degeneration" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Degeneration", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Delikatessen#56,880Demütigungen#56,882Doppelspitze#56,903dunkelbraune#56,910

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list