This is the motto displayed at Chalke Abbey. It seems to mean "for someone who is going bad, family is a thing of shame". That's a really weird family motto! How else could it be interpreted?
To a degenerate man (or woman) his family is a disgrace I suppose you could interpret it as shame on the degeneration of your descent but I think that it is the first.
There's a play on words here as well, since the verb degenero is derived from the elements dē "from" and gener- the root of genus "race, kind". The verb literally means "to depart from one's race/kind". Hence "one's race/family origin is a disgrace [only] to a degenerate (i.e. one who departs from his race)."
It's still a weird phrase to have as a family motto - saying "my family aren't all that great, but only a degenerate would be ashamed of them". Often mottos are part of a longer quote. Any ideas?
It's not saying my family aren't all that great; rather, the opposite. The motto has a twofold purpose: firstly to demonstrate to the world that this family has a proud lineage (genus); and secondly to remind all living members of the family to live up to the family's long-established reputation and not to do anything that risks bringing opprobrium on it. This admonition is, of course, of universal application and is addressed to all readers of the motto, not just family members. I don't know who first used the Latin phrase (it'd be nice to find out), but two recurring translations of it are: Lineage is a disgrace to the man who degenerates from it. and A good extraction is a reproach to him that degenerates from it.
