nature English · revision 3207

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1275|origins=la nāscī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈneɪ.tʃə/, US /ˈneɪ.tʃɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|nature]],^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|nature|t=nature, being, principle of life; character, essence]] and directly [[bor|la|nātūra|t=birth; natural character, constitution; the universe]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from nātus, the past participle of [[m|la|nāscī|t=to be born]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004) from [[ine-pro|*gene-|t=to give birth, beget]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is related to [[native]] and [[nation]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “The restorative powers of the body, bodily processes”: about 1275^(Barnhart 1988) or the late 13th century.^(Etymonline) The OED's earliest sense, before 1300, is the essential qualities of a thing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the mid-14th century nature was the force or process of the material world, which produces living things and keeps order.^(Etymonline) The innate character or disposition of a person is from about 1380,^(Barnhart 1988) and inherent creative power from about 1385.^(Barnhart 1988) Nature personified, Mother Nature, is also Middle English.^(Etymonline) ''Human nature'' is from 1526.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Nature and nurture have been paired and contrasted since Shakespeare's ''Tempest'',^(Etymonline) and Francis Galton used the jingle in 1875.^(Etymonline) The material world and its features, as distinct from human civilization, is from 1662^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1660s, especially in ''state of nature'', the condition of humans before organized society.^(Etymonline) ''Nature worship'' is by 1840.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1275 – bodily processes.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – the forces of the material world.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1380 – innate character.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1526 – ''human nature''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1662 – the material world.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1840 – ''nature worship''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1875 – ''nature and nurture'' (Galton).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The physical world and everything in it that is not made by people, including plants, animals and [[landscape|alt=landscapes]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The forces that control the physical world: ''the laws of nature''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The basic character or qualities of a person or thing: ''human nature''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A kind or sort: ''problems of this nature''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A primitive state untouched by [[civilization]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[naturelike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[antenatal]]

+ * [[innate]]

+ * [[nascent]]

+ * [[natal]]

+ * [[nation]]

+ * [[national]]

+ * [[nationality]]

+ * [[native]]

+ * [[nativity]]

+ * [[nativism]]

+ * [[natural]]

+ * [[naturism]]

+ * [[naturist]]

+ * [[naturalism]]

+ * [[naturopathy]]

+ * [[perinatal]]

+ * [[prenatal]]

+ * [[naturalist]]

+ * [[naive]]

+ * [[pregnant]]

+ * [[nurture]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}