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natural

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natural

  • /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹəl/
  • /ˈnæt.(ə.)ɹəl/
  • /ˈnatʃ(ʊ)rəl/ South Asia
  • /ˈnetʃ(ʊ)rəl/ South Asia

Rhymes with -ætʃəɹəl, -ætʃɹəl

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English natural, borrowed from Old French natural, naturel, from Latin nātūrālis, from nātus, the perfect participle of nāscor (“be born”, verb). Displaced native Old English ġecynde. By surface analysis, natur(e) + -al.

adjective more natural · most natural · naturall · nat'ral

  1. Existing in the nature of a person or thing; innate, not acquired or learned. The natural Love of Life gave me some inward Motions of Joy.
  2. Normally associated with a particular person or thing; inherently related to the nature of a thing or creature. The species will be under threat if its natural habitat is destroyed.
  3. As expected; reasonable, normal; naturally arising from the given circumstances. It's natural for business to be slow on Tuesdays.
  4. Formed by nature; not manufactured or created by artificial processes. The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.
  5. Pertaining to death brought about by disease or old age, rather than by violence, accident etc. She died of natural causes.
  6. Having an innate ability to fill a given role or profession, or display a specified character. Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.
  7. Designating a standard trigonometric function of an angle, as opposed to the logarithmic function.
  8. Closed under submodules, direct sums, and injective hulls.
  9. Neither sharp nor flat. Denoted ♮. There's a wrong note here: it should be C natural instead of C sharp.
  10. Containing no artificial or man-made additives; especially (of food) containing no colourings, flavourings or preservatives. Natural food is healthier than processed food.
  11. Pertaining to a decoration that preserves or enhances the appearance of the original material; not stained or artificially coloured.
  12. Pertaining to a fabric still in its undyed state, or to the colour of undyed fabric.
  13. Pertaining to a dice roll before bonuses or penalties have been applied to the result.
  14. Not having used anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.
  15. Uncircumcised; intact.
  16. Bidding in an intuitive way that reflects one's actual hand.
  17. Having a given status (especially of authority) by virtue of birth. Whom should he follow but his naturall king.
  18. Related genetically but not legally to one's father; born out of wedlock, illegitimate. [M]y Mother was the natural Daughter of a Scotch Peer by an italian Opera-girl […].
  19. Related by birth; genetically related. The first-born in every house, “from the first-born of the Pharaoh on the throne, to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon,” unaccountably found himself enlisted in the ranks of this new power, and estranged from his natural friends.

noun naturals · naturall · nat'ral

  1. archaic, countable, uncountable A native inhabitant of a place, country, etc. I coniecture and assure my selfe that yee cannot be ignorant by what meanes this peace hath bin thus happily both for our proceedings and the welfare of the Naturals concluded […]
  2. countable, uncountable A note that is not or is no longer to be modified by an accidental.
  3. countable, uncountable The symbol ♮ used to indicate such a natural note.
  4. countable, uncountable One with an innate talent at or for something. He's a natural on the saxophone.
  5. uncountable An almost white colour, with tints of grey, yellow or brown; originally that of natural fabric.
  6. archaic, countable, uncountable One with a simple mind; a fool or idiot. Why is not this better now, then groning for Loue, now art thou ſociable, now art thou Romeo : now art thou what thou art, by Art as well as by Nature, for this driueling Loue is like a great Naturall, that runs lolling vp and downe to hid his bable in a hole.
  7. UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable One's life. ‘Sergeant-Major Robinson came in in the middle of it, and you've never seen a man look more surprised in your natural.’
  8. US, colloquial, countable, uncountable A hairstyle for people with Afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated. Chinosole, who stopped straightening her hair and cut it into a natural while at a predominantly white college, was quite uneasy with the style
  9. countable, in plural, slang, uncountable A breast which has not been modified by plastic surgery. big naturals
  10. countable, uncountable Someone who has not used anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing substances. For so long I stayed natural because it was a sense of pride to me that as a natural I was still competing and beating guys who were juicing up.
  11. countable, uncountable A roll of two dice with a score of 7 or 11 on the comeout roll.
  12. countable, uncountable A deal of cards totalling 8 or 9. ‘Now,’ Bond continued, ‘when the banker deals me my two cards, if they add up to eight or nine, they're a ‘natural’ and I turn them up and I win, unless he has an equal or a better natural. If I haven't got a natural, I can stand on a seven or a six, perhaps ask for a card or perhaps not, on a five,
  13. countable, uncountable Synonym of pontoon (“hand totalling 21 points”).

adverb more natural · most natural · naturall · nat'ral

  1. colloquial, dialectal Naturally; in a natural manner. Dr. Watson, on the other hand, spoke natural.

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