Etymologically
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nature

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /na.tyʁ/[1]

Forms

nature f (plural natures)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nātūra (“birth; natural state of a thing; temperament, character; the course of things”), recorded in French from 1119.[2][3][4][5] The Latin word is formed on nātus (“born”), from nāscor (“to be born”) (see naître).[3][6][7] In Latin it also rendered Ancient Greek φύσις (phúsis) in philosophy and named the genitals.[3]

Compare Romanian natură and Italian natura.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) uses it for the active force that established and maintains the order of the universe, often personified.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the first half of the 12th century the word meant the set of properties that define a thing, and about 1165 the essence proper to a being, nature humaine is from the 13th century.[2][3] About 1170 Chrétien de Troyes has par nature for an inborn disposition, whence a person's temperament (about 1480) and the person itself (1559), still heard in une petite nature.[2][3] Scholastic philosophy gave nature naturante and nature naturée (1253), calques of Latin natura naturans and natura naturata.[3]

The modern idea of nature as the whole ordered world governed by laws dates from the Renaissance (1584), and nature as opposed to civilization from Furetière (1690).[2][3] Nature as the model of art gave d'après nature (Molière, 1663) and plus grand que nature (1671); contre nature is from 1535, en nature “in kind” from 1734.[2] The adjective (c'est nature, 1808, un bœuf nature, 1865, “plain, unadorned”) and a slang adverb “of course” (Carco, 1914) are recent.[2][8]

Timeline

  • 1119 – The force that orders the universe, Philippe de Thaon.[2]
  • c. 1170 – Par nature “by inborn disposition”, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1253 – Nature naturante and nature naturée.[3]
  • 1535 – Contre nature.[2]
  • 1584 – The whole ordered world.[2]
  • 1663 – D'après nature, Molière.[2]
  • 1808 – Adjective c'est nature.[2]
  • 1914 – Slang adverb nature! “naturally”, Carco.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The nature of something: the set of properties that define it, la nature humaine.[7][2]
  2. A person's temperament, character; a person of a certain character: une petite nature, a weakling.[7][3]
  3. The physical world, the universe and its laws, (personified) la Nature.[2][1]
  4. The countryside, the natural world as opposed to towns and civilization.[2][7]
  5. Nature as the model of art: d'après nature, grandeur nature, life-size, nature morte, a still life.[2][1]
  6. En nature: in kind.[2][1]
  7. (grammar) Part of speech, lexical category.[1]

Adjective

  1. (invariable) Plain, unseasoned: un yaourt nature.[1][9]
  2. (familiar) Natural, spontaneous, frank.[9][2]

Word family

  • dénaturer
  • naturaliste
  • naturisme
  • surnaturel

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 45b
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)