NATURAL

lifelike, natural

(adjective) free from artificiality; “a lifelike pose”; “a natural reaction”

natural, born, innate

(adjective) being talented through inherited qualities; “a natural leader”; “a born musician”; “an innate talent”

biological, natural

(adjective) (of a parent or child) related by blood; genetically related; “biological child”; “natural parent”

natural

(adjective) in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature; “a very natural development”; “our natural environment”; “natural science”; “natural resources”; “natural cliffs”; “natural phenomena”

natural

(adjective) existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or imitation; “a natural pearl”; “natural gas”; “natural silk”; “natural blonde hair”; “a natural sweetener”; “natural fertilizers”

natural

(adjective) existing in or in conformity with nature or the observable world; neither supernatural nor magical; “a perfectly natural explanation”

natural

(adjective) (of a musical note) being neither raised nor lowered by one chromatic semitone; “a natural scale”; “B natural”

natural

(adjective) functioning or occurring in a normal way; lacking abnormalities or deficiencies; “it’s the natural thing to happen”; “natural immunity”; “a grandparent’s natural affection for a grandchild”

natural, raw, rude

(adjective) (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes; “natural yogurt”; “natural produce”; “raw wool”; “raw sugar”; “bales of rude cotton”

natural, instinctive

(adjective) unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct; “a cat’s natural aversion to water”; “offering to help was as instinctive as breathing”

natural

(noun) (craps) a first roll of 7 or 11 that immediately wins the stake

natural, cancel

(noun) a notation cancelling a previous sharp or flat

natural

(noun) someone regarded as certain to succeed; “he’s a natural for the job”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

natural (comparative more natural, superlative most natural)

That exists and evolved within the confines of an ecosystem.

Of or relating to nature.

Without artificial additives.

As expected; reasonable.

(music) Neither sharp nor flat. Denoted ♮.

(music) Produced by natural organs, such as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music.

(music) Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key.

(math) Having 1 as the base of the system, of a function or number.

Without, or prior to, modification or adjustment.

(dice) The result of a dice roll before bonuses or penalties are added to or subtracted from the result.

Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.

(obsolete) Connected by the ties of consanguinity.

Related genetically but not legally to one's father; born out of wedlock, illegitimate.

(of sexual intercourse) Without a condom.

(bridge) Bidding in an intuitive way that reflects one's actual hand.

Synonyms

• (exists in an ecosystem): see innate or native

• (as expected): inevitable, necessary, reasonable; See also inevitable

• (without adjustment): see raw

• (connected by consanguinity): see consanguine

• (born out of wedlock): see illegitimate

• (without a condom): see condomless

Antonyms

• (exists in an ecosystem): aberrant, abnormal, artificial

• (as expected): see strange

• (without additives): processed

• (bridge): conventional

Noun

natural (plural naturals)

(now rare) A native inhabitant of a place, country etc. [from 16th c.]

(music) A note that is not or is no longer to be modified by an accidental. [from 17th c.]

(music) The symbol ♮ used to indicate such a natural note.

One with an innate talent at or for something. [from 18th c.]

An almost white colour, with tints of grey, yellow or brown; originally that of natural fabric. [from 20th c.]

(archaic) One with a simple mind; a fool or idiot.

(colloquial, chiefly UK) One's natural life.

(US, colloquial) A hairstyle for people with afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated.

(algebra) Closed under submodules, direct sums, and injective hulls.

Adverb

natural (comparative more natural, superlative most natural)

(colloquial, dialect) Naturally; in a natural manner.

Source: Wiktionary

Nat"u*ral, a. Etym: [OE. naturel, F. naturel, fr. L. naturalis, fr. natura. See Nature.]

1. Fixed or determined by nature; pertaining to the constitution of a thing; belonging to native character; according to nature; essential; characteristic; not artifical, foreign, assumed, put on, or acquired; as, the natural growth of animals or plants; the natural motion of a gravitating body; natural strength or disposition; the natural heat of the body; natural color. With strong natural sense, and rare force of will. Macaulay.

2. Conformed to the order, laws, or actual facts, of nature; consonant to the methods of nature; according to the stated course of things, or in accordance with the laws which govern events, feelings, etc.; not exceptional or violent; legitimate; normal; regular; as, the natural consequence of crime; a natural death. What can be more natural than the circumstances in the behavior of those women who had lost their husbands on this fatal day Addison.

3. Having to do with existing system to things; dealing with, or derived from, the creation, or the world of matter and mind, as known by man; within the scope of human reason or experience; not supernatural; as, a natural law; natural science; history, theology. I call that natural religion which men might know ... by the mere principles of reason, improved by consideration and experience, without the help of revelation. Bp. Wilkins.

4. Conformed to truth or reality; as: (a) Springing from true sentiment; not artifical or exaggerated; -- said of action, delivery, etc.; as, a natural gesture, tone, etc. (b) Resembling the object imitated; true to nature; according to the life; -- said of anything copied or imitated; as, a portrait is natural.

5. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings. To leave his wife, to leave his babes, ... He wants the natural touch. Shak.

6. Connected by the ties of consanguinity. "Natural friends." J. H. Newman.

7. Begotten without the sanction of law; born out of wedlock; illegitimate; bastard; as, a natural child.

8. Of or pertaining to the lower or animal nature, as contrasted with the higher or moral powers, or that which is spiritual; being in a state of nature; unregenerate. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. 1 Cor. ii. 14.

9. (Math.)

Definition: Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some system, in which the base is 1; -- said or certain functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken in arcs whose radii are 1.

10. (Mus.) (a) Produced by natural organs, as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music. (b) of or pertaining to a key which has neither a flat nor a sharp for its signature, as the key of C major. (c) Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key. Moore (Encyc. of Music). Natural day, the space of twenty-four hours. Chaucer.

– Natural fats, Natural gas, etc. See under Fat, Gas. etc.

– Natural Harmony (Mus.), the harmony of the triad or common chord.

– Natural history, in its broadest sense, a history or description of nature as a whole, incuding the sciences of botany, zoölogy, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, chemistry, and physics. In recent usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of botany and zoölogy collectively, and sometimes to the science of zoology alone.

– Natural law, that instinctive sense of justice and of right and wrong, which is native in mankind, as distinguished from specifically revealed divine law, and formulated human law.

– Natural modulation (Mus.), transition from one key to its relative keys.

– Natural order. (Nat. Hist.) See under order.

– Natural person. (Law) See under person, n.

– Natural philosophy, originally, the study of nature in general; in modern usage, that branch of physical science, commonly called physics, which treats of the phenomena and laws of matter and considers those effects only which are unaccompanied by any change of a chemical nature; -- contrasted with mental and moral philosophy.

– Natural scale (Mus.), a scale which is written without flats or sharps. Model would be a preferable term, as less likely to mislead, the so-called artificial scales (scales represented by the use of flats and sharps) being equally natural with the so-called natural scale -- Natural science, natural history, in its broadest sense; -- used especially in contradistinction to mental or moral science.

– Natural selection (Biol.), a supposed operation of natural laws analogous, in its operation and results, to designed selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in the survival of the fittest. The theory of natural selection supposes that this has been brought about mainly by gradual changes of environment which have led to corresponding changes of structure, and that those forms which have become so modified as to be best adapted to the changed environment have tended to survive and leave similarly adapted descendants, while those less perfectly adapted have tended to die out though lack of fitness for the environment, thus resulting in the survival of the fittest. See Darwinism.

– Natural system (Bot. & Zoöl.), a classification based upon real affinities, as shown in the structure of all parts of the organisms, and by their embryology. It should be borne in mind that the natural system of botany is natural only in the constitution of its genera, tribes, orders, etc., and in its grand divisions. Gray.

– Natural theology, or Natural religion, that part of theological science which treats of those evidences of the existence and attributes of the Supreme Being which are exhibited in nature; -- distinguished from revealed religion. See Quotation under Natural, a., 3.

– Natural vowel, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir, her, etc.; -- so called as being uttered in the easiest open position of the mouth organs. See Neutral vowel, under Neutral and Guide to Pronunciation, § 17.

Syn.

– See Native.

Nat"u*ral, n.

1. A native; an aboriginal. [Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.

2. pl.

Definition: Natural gifts, impulses, etc. [Obs.] Fuller.

3. One born without the usual powers of reason or understanding; an idiot. "The minds of naturals." Locke.

4. (Mus.)

Definition: A character [] used to contradict, or to remove the effect of, a sharp or flat which has preceded it, and to restore the unaltered note.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

NATURAL

Etymology

Adjective

Synonyms

Antonyms

Noun

Adverb

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