Degradation

1. Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.
2. The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop.
3. The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.
4. A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc.
5. Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.
6. The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.