degraded
劣化した
解説 Definition
degraded は degrade（低下させる、劣化させる）の過去形・過去分詞で、形容詞としては「劣化した、品質が落ちた」という意味です。物質、環境、データ、状態などが以前より悪くなったことを表します。
Reduced in quality, condition, usefulness, or performance compared with an earlier or normal state. It commonly describes damaged soil, weakened environments, or images, recordings, and data that have lost clarity through deterioration or repeated copying.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
原形 degrade「質を落とす」は語末の e を落として -ed を付け、degraded になります。語末が /d/ のため -ed は /ɪd/ と発音され、de-grade-d のように音節が一つ増えます。degraded soil・sound・image のように、以前より品質や機能が落ちた物を修飾すると覚えましょう。damaged よりも段階的な品質低下を示しやすい語です。
Connect degraded with degrade, “to lower in quality.” Form the past participle by dropping the final e and adding -ed. Because degrade ends in the /d/ sound, the ending is pronounced /ɪd/, creating an extra syllable. The element grade suggests a level, so something degraded has effectively moved down a grade. Remember common combinations such as degraded soil, degraded sound, degraded image, and degraded performance. Compared with damaged, degraded often emphasizes a measurable decline in quality or function, sometimes occurring gradually rather than through one obvious accident.
例文
The photo looked degraded after many copies.
その写真は何度もコピーされた後で劣化して見えました。
The degraded soil could no longer support healthy crops.
劣化した土壌では、健康な作物を育てることができなくなっていました。
Old tapes often produce degraded sound.
古いテープでは、しばしば劣化した音が出ます。
degraded の類義語・関連語
類義語
紛らわしい語
degraded の語源・成り立ち Etymology
ラテン語 degradare（地位を下げる）が語源。de-（下へ）+ gradus（段階・歩み）の組み合わせで、「段階を下げる」が原義。関連語：grade（等級）、graduate（段階を経て卒業する）。地位の低下から品質の劣化へと意味が広がった。
Degraded is the past participle of degrade, formed by dropping final e and adding -ed. Degrade comes through French from Latin degradare, “to reduce in rank,” built from de-, indicating downward movement, and gradus, “step” or “rank.” The original idea was lowering a person’s status by one or more steps. Its meaning later broadened to include lowering the quality, condition, or performance of materials, environments, and information.
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