Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DEGRADATIONS
Noun
degradations
plural of degradation
Source: Wiktionary
DEGRADATION
Deg`ra*da"tion, n. Etym: [LL. degradatio, from degradare: cf. F. dégradation. See Degrade.]
1. 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. He saw many removes and degradations in all the other offices of which he had been possessed. Clarendon.
2. The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement. The . . . degradation of a needy man of letters. Macaulay. Deplorable is the degradation of our nature. South. Moments there frequently must be, when a sidegradation of his state. Blair.
3. Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration. The development and degradation of the alphabetic forms can be traced. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).
4. (Geol.)
Definition: A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, fro
5. (Biol.)
Definition: The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration. The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties. Dana.
6. (Physiol.)
Definition: Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole. Degradation of energy, or Dissipation of energy (Physics), the transformation of energy into some form in which it is less available for doing work.
Syn.
– Abasement; debasement; reduction; decline.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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