Etymologically
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naturale

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Pronunciation

  • /na.tuˈra.le/[1]

Forms

naturale m or f by sense (plural naturali, superlative naturalissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nātūrālis (“natural; by birth”), from nātūra (“birth; nature, character”), which is formed from nātus (“born”).[2][3][4][1] It is a learned word that came in through the written language.[5][6] The same word is French naturel and Spanish natural.[3]

nātus is the participle of nāscor (“to be born”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, to be born”); the participle goes back to *ǵn̥h₁-tó-, like Sanskrit जात (jātá, “born”).[7]

Several derivatives came from French rather than straight from Latin: naturalista, naturalismo and naturalizzare follow French naturaliste, naturalisme and naturaliser.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Brunetto Latini (before 1294), in the sense “of nature, belonging to nature”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

“Inborn, that one has by nature” is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, “unaffected, spontaneous” in Arrigo Simintendi (before 1333), and “in keeping with nature” in Boccaccio (1353).[2] Prati notes that the old noun naturale meant “temperament” and, in the Novellino and Annibal Caro, the male member, and that i naturali were the natives of a country.[6] The noun for the shape or size of a thing as it is in nature, as in al naturale, is recorded at the end of the 15th century.[2]

In music naturale describes a note neither sharpened nor flattened, a use found in French in 1703 and German in 1732.[8] Modern law speaks of a figlio naturale, a child born outside marriage, and in the shop acqua naturale is still water.[9][1]

Timeline

  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses naturale.[2]
  • Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for “inborn”.[2]
  • Before 1333 – Simintendi uses it for “spontaneous”.[2]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “in keeping with nature”.[2]
  • Late 15th century – The noun for “life size” is recorded.[2]
  • 1703 – French takes the musical naturale.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of nature, belonging to the physical world: i fenomeni naturali.[4][9][10]
  2. Given by nature; innate: Ha un talento naturale per il disegno.[4][9]
  3. Genuine, not altered or processed: succo di frutta naturale; of water, still.[4][1]
  4. Spontaneous, unaffected: Davanti alla telecamera era molto naturale.[4][10]
  5. Normal, to be expected: È naturale che sia preoccupata.[10][9]
  6. (law) figlio naturale, a child born outside marriage.[9]
  7. (music) Of a note, neither sharp nor flat.[8]

Noun

  1. al naturale: life-size; of food, plain, without dressing.[2][4]

Word family

  • naturalmente
  • naturalezza
  • naturalità
  • naturalista
  • naturalistico
  • naturalismo
  • naturalizzare
  • naturalizzazione
  • innaturale
  • soprannaturale
  • connaturale

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 692
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  9. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse