degraded

See degrade and compare French degré (“step”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈɡɹeɪdəd/

degraded (comparative more degraded, superlative most degraded)

Argent, a cross degraded and conjoined (to the edges of the shield) sable, the arms of Wynt-worth.

1. Feeling or having undergone degradation; deprived of dignity or self-respect.
   • 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     The Netherlands […] were reduced, practically, to a very degraded condition.

2. (biology) Having the typical characters or organs in a partially developed condition, or lacking certain parts.
   • 1852, James Dwight Dana, Crustacaea:

     The Grapsoid species are represented of a degraded form in Porcellana

3. (heraldry, not comparable) Having steps; said of a cross whose extremities end in steps growing larger as they leave the centre; on degrees.
   • 1725, A New Dictionary of Heraldry ... Illustrated with 196 devices on copper ... Revis'd and corrected, with a letter to the publisher, by Mr. James Coates, page 98:

     A Cross degraded Fitchee.

   • 1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 168:

     Ar. a cross, degraded, sa.

   • 1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 99:

     Argent, a cross degraded and conjoined, (or issuing from eight degrees,) sable. WYNT-WORTH.

• (deprived of dignity): humiliated

degraded

1. simple past and past participle of degrade

• 1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 161:

  Consequently a cross degraded (fr. à degrés, and sometimes enserrée de degrés and peronnée) and conjoined signifies a plain cross, having its extremities placed upon steps joined to the sides of the shield.