nature
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- natuer (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English nature, natur, borrowed from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra (“birth, origin, natural constitution or quality”), future participle from perfect passive participle (g)natus (“born”), from deponent verb (g)nasci (“to be born, originate”) + future participle suffix -urus. Displaced native Middle English cunde, icunde (“nature, property, type, genus, character”) (from Old English ġecynd), Middle English lund (“nature, disposition”) (from Old Norse lund), Middle English burthe (“nature, birth, nation”) (from Old English ġebyrd and Old Norse *byrðr). More at kind.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈneɪtʃə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈneɪtʃɚ/
- (Northern England) IPA(key): /ˈnɛːtʃɐ/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈnæɪ̯tʃə/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈnæetʃɘ/, [ˈnæetʃɜ~ˈnɐetʃɜ]
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪtʃə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: na‧ture
NounEdit
nature (countable and uncountable, plural natures)
- (uncountable) The natural world; that which consists of all things unaffected by or predating human technology, production, and design. (Compare ecosystem.)
- Nature never lies (i.e. tells untruths).
- Tectonic activity is part of nature, so there's no way to stop earthquakes.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 6, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- Nature has caprices which art cannot imitate.
- 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying
- Nature has good intentions, of course, but, as Aristotle once said, she cannot carry them out. When I look at a landscape I cannot help seeing all its defects.
- The innate characteristics of a thing. What something will tend by its own constitution, to be or do. Distinct from what might be expected or intended.
- 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch.1:
- Being by nature of a cheerful disposition, the symptom did not surprise his servant, late private of the same famous regiment, who was laying breakfast in an adjoining room.
- 1869, Horatio Alger, Jr., Mark the Match Boy, chapter 16:
- Mark hardly knew whether to believe this or not. He already began to suspect that Roswell was something of a humbug, and though it was not in his nature to form a causeless dislike, he certainly did not feel disposed to like Roswell.
- 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch.1:
- The summary of everything that has to do with biological, chemical and physical states and events in the physical universe.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 8”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- I oft admire
How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
Such disproportions.
- 2012 January 1, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
- As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.
- Conformity to that which is natural, as distinguished from that which is artificial, or forced, or remote from actual experience.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii]:
- One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
- Kind, sort; character; quality.
- It's not in my nature to steal.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
- A dispute of this nature caused mischief.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314, page 0147:
- Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
- (obsolete) Physical constitution or existence; the vital powers; the natural life.
- c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene v]:
- my days of nature
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Oppressed nature sleeps.
- (obsolete) Natural affection or reverence.
- 1703, Alexander Pope, transl., “The Thebais of Statius”, in The Works of Alexander Pope, London: H. Lintont et al., published 1751:
- Have we not seen
The murdering son ascend his parent's bed,
Through violated nature force his way?
SynonymsEdit
- (innate characteristics of a thing): quintessence, whatness; See also Thesaurus:essence
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
- naturism
- naturist
- naturity (obsolete)
- naturize (obsolete)
- naturalism
- naturopath(y) (alternative medicine)
- perinatal
- prenatal
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
VerbEdit
nature (third-person singular simple present natures, present participle naturing, simple past and past participle natured)
- (obsolete) To endow with natural qualities.
ReferencesEdit
- nature at OneLook Dictionary Search
- nature in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- "nature" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 219.
- nature in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- nature in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
AnagramsEdit
EsperantoEdit
AdverbEdit
nature
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French nature, borrowed from Latin nātūra.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
nature f (plural natures)
Derived termsEdit
AdjectiveEdit
nature (plural natures)
- plain, unseasoned
- Une brioche nature ou sucrée ?
- File-moi un yaourt nature s’il te plait.
- bareback, raw dog
- Une fellation nature.
Further readingEdit
- “nature” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
ItalianEdit
NounEdit
nature f
AdjectiveEdit
nature (invariable)
AnagramsEdit
LatinEdit
ParticipleEdit
nātūre
Middle DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra.
NounEdit
nature f
- nature, force of nature
- laws of nature, natural order
- nature, innate characteristics
- kind, sort
- origin
- sexual fertility, sex drive
InflectionEdit
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
DescendantsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “nature”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “nature”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN
Middle EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French nature, from Latin nātūra.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
nature (plural natures)
- The Universe, existence, creation
- nature, the natural world
- natural abilities
- natural inevitability, nature (as opposed to nurture)
- natural morals, natural law
- natural needs or requirements
- nature, state, condition
- species, kind, type
- Nature (allegory)
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “nātūr(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Middle FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French nature, borrowed from Latin nātūra.
NounEdit
nature f (plural natures)
DescendantsEdit
- French: nature
NovialEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
nature (plural natures)
Old FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
nature f (oblique plural natures, nominative singular nature, nominative plural natures)
- nature (natural world; nonhuman world)
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, 'Érec et Énide':
- De cesti tesmoingne Nature,
Qu'onques si bele creature
Ne fu veüe an tot le monde.- Nature can testify
That never such a beautiful creature
Was seen in the whole world
- Nature can testify
- nature (character; qualities)