Degradation /(?)/

Deg·ra·da·tion

Degradation

n.
  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.
  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.
    Deplorable is the degradation of our nature.
    Moments there frequently must be, when a sinner is sensible of the degradation 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. A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc. (Geol.)
  5. The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration. (Biol.)
    The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties.
  6. Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole. (Physiol.)

Phrases & Compounds
Degradation of energy
the transformation of energy into some form in which it is less available for doing work.