naturalist

Etymology

It is formed from English natural + -ist,^[2][3][4] partly after French naturaliste,^[3] which is recorded from the early 16th century in the sense of a natural historian.^[2] Etymonline, Klein and Merriam-Webster derive the English word directly from the Middle French one.^[5][6][7] In the rare sense of a person who follows his or her natural instincts, the OED sees the influence of Italian naturalista (1406).^[2] The adjective goes back through Old French naturel to Latin nātūrālis (“by birth, according to nature”), from nātūra (“nature”).^[5] Middle English had naturien for a natural philosopher.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An expert in or student of natural science, a natural philosopher: 1581, in J. Hamilton's Catholik Traictise.^[2] Etymonline gives the 1580s for someone who studies natural rather than spiritual things,^[5] and Merriam-Webster gives 1587.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The earliest naturalists were students of natural science or philosophy, a sense the OED records until 1892;^[2] Johnson (1755) still defined the word as "a student in physicks, or natural philosophy".^[8] From 1587 the word also named those who study natural as opposed to spiritual things, or believe that only natural laws operate in the world.^[2][5] From 1608 to 1825 it also meant someone whose religion rests on reason alone, without revelation.^[2] Trench notes that in the 16th and 17th centuries the name was often given to the deist, and quotes Henry More pairing it with atheism.^[9] The modern sense, a student of plants and animals, appears in 1600 and gradually became the usual one.^[2][5][9] In art the word was used from about 1806 for an artist who represents nature closely; from 1888, in Henry James, it was used for an adherent of literary naturalism.^[2]

Timeline

• 1581 – an expert in natural science, a natural philosopher (obsolete by 1892).^[2]
• 1587 – a person who studies natural rather than spiritual things.^[2][7]
• 1600 – a student of natural history, of plants and animals.^[2][5]
• 1608 – a person whose religion rests on reason without revelation (obsolete by 1825).^[2]
• before 1806 – an artist who represents nature closely.^[2]
• 1830 – adjective, naturalistic.^[2]
• 1888 – an adherent of naturalism in literature.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who studies plants and animals, especially in the field: a keen amateur naturalist who could name every bird in the marsh.^[10][7][2]
2. An adherent of naturalism in art or literature.^[10][7][2]
3. In philosophy, a person who holds that only natural laws and forces operate in the world.^[7][2]
4. (archaic) An expert in natural science; a natural philosopher.^[7][2][8]

Adjective

1. Naturalistic.^[7][2]

Word family

• antinaturalist
• nonnaturalist

Related words

• naturalism
• naturist
• natural
• nature

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins