dēgĕnĕro — Lewis & Short
dēgĕnĕro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. n. and
I a. [degener].
I Neutr., to depart from its race or kind, to degenerate (class.).
A Lit.:
qui a vobis nihil degenerat,Cic. Phil. 13, 15:
Pandione nata, degeneras!Ov. M. 6, 635:
pomaque degenerant succos oblita priores,Verg. G. 2, 59; cf. id. ib. 1, 198:
frumenta,Col. 2, 9, 11:
surculus,id. 3, 9, 7:
hordeum in avenam,Plin. 18, 17, 44, § 149; cf. id. 17, 15, 25, § 117:
Macedones in Syros degenerarunt,Liv. 38, 17, 11; 9, 38, 3; Curt. 8, 5, 14. —
B Trop.
(a) With ab:
ab hac virtute majorum,Cic. Fl. 11, 25; cf. Suet. Ner. 1; so,
a gravitate paterna,Cic. Prov. Cons. 8, 18:
a parentibus nostris,Liv. 22, 14:
a familia imperiosissima,id. 9, 34:
a civili more,Suet. Aug. 17:
a fama vitaque sua,Tac. H. 3, 28:
non modo a libertate sed etiam a servitute,id. G. 45 fin.:
a Stoicis degeneravit Panaetius,Cic. Div. 1, 3, 6; cf. id. Tusc. 2, 25, 60.—
(b) With abl. alone:
famā,Stat. Th. 3, 148.—
(g) With dat. (poet.):
degenerant nati patribus,Manil. 4, 78; so,
Marti paterno,Stat. Th. 1, 464:
patri,Claud. IV. Cons. Honor. 366.—
(d) With ad or in and acc.:
ad theatrales artes,Tac. A. 14, 21:
in feritatem,Plin. 17, 15, 25, § 117.—(e) Absol.:
consuetudo eum et disciplina degenerare non sineret,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 68; id. Brut. 34, 130:
nec Narisci Quadive degenerant,Tac. G. 42; id. A. 14, 21; 15, 68.
II Act.
A To cause to degenerate or deteriorate:
Venus carpit corpus et vires animosque degenerat,Col. 7, 12, 11:
multum degenerat transcribentium fors varia,Plin. 25, 2, 4, § 8:
ni degeneratum in aliis huic quoque decori offecisset,i. e. his degeneracy, his vicious character, Liv. 1, 53; see Zumpt, Gram. § 638, N. 1.—
B With acc. of that from which any thing degenerates, to dishonor, to stain, by degeneracy (poet., and in post-Aug. prose):
non degenerasse propinquos (sc. me),Prop. 4, 1, 81 (5, 1, 79 M):
palmas,Ov. M. 7, 543:
famam,Stat. Th. 4, 149; id. Silv. 3, 1, 160. —Pass.:
conspectus degenerati patris,Val. Max. 8, 4; cf. Sol. 17, 11.