Etymologically
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naturaliter

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Forms

nātūrāliter (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nātūrālis (“natural”) + -ter.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first author is Cicero,[4] who in De divinatione says that the mind never divines by its own nature unless it is set free from the body.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant by nature, inherently: Caesar speaks of an eagerness that is naturally innate in everyone.[2][3] Varro uses it of an exclamation that is blurted out naturally without meaning anything,[3] and Velleius Paterculus of what, by the nature of things, falls back when it cannot advance.[2][3] In the jurists it is “according to natural law”,[2] and in Celsus “in a normal manner”, of an ulcer that has no normal feeling.[2]

Medieval writers kept the sense “according to the laws of nature”, as in Bede, and “inherently, by its essence”;[5] Aldhelm uses it of a syllable long by nature, as opposed to one long by position.[5] Thomas Aquinas also uses it.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the mind divining by its own nature.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of an innate eagerness.[2][3][4]
  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus uses it of the nature of things.[2][4]
  • 2nd half of the 1st century AD – The jurist Javolenus uses it of natural possession.[2][4]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of a syllable long by nature.[5][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. By nature, inherently, naturally.[2][3][1]
  2. By natural action, spontaneously.[2]
  3. (law) In accordance with natural law (iūs nātūrāle).[2]
  4. In accordance with the nature of things or human nature.[2][5]
  5. In a normal manner.[2]
  6. (grammar, Medieval Latin) Long by nature (of a syllable).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press