natura Italian · revision 38712

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1250, Rinaldo d'Aquino|origins=ine-pro *ǵenh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /naˈtu.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''natura''' ''f'' (plural nature)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|nātūra|t=birth; character; the order of things]], a learned word that came in by the literary route.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|692)^(GDLI) The Latin noun was formed from [[m|la|nātus|t=born]], the past participle of [[m|la|nāscor|t=to be born]], with the suffix [[m|la|-ūra]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Devoto compares the relation of [[la|statūra]] to [[m|la|status]].^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan derives the verb, older [[m|la|gnāscor]], from [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget, be born]], through a present [[m|ine-pro|*ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-|alt=*ǵnh₁-sk-e/o-]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The word is panromance and European in its learned form, as [[fr|nature]] and others.^(Nocentini 2010) Many of the Italian words built on it came through French: [[natura morta]] from [[fr|nature morte]] (18th century), and [[naturalismo]], [[naturalista]], [[naturalizzare]] and [[naturismo]] from French terms.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Rinaldo d'Aquino, a poet of the Sicilian school who wrote before 1250, for the beings and things of the universe as governed by their own laws.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense “constitution, substance” of men and things follows at the end of the 13th century in the ''Novellino'', and “instinct, temperament” in Dante.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 13th and 14th centuries ''natura'' also meant the genitals, of a woman in a translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi and of a man in a version of Marco Polo.^(DEI|2553)^(Prati 1951|692) Scholastic philosophy gave the pair ''natura naturante'', God as the creating principle, after Latin ''natura naturans'', recorded in the ''Ottimo'' commentary on Dante.^(Prati 1951|692)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The adjective ''naturale'' is recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, and ''morte naturale'' “death by natural causes” already in Giacomo da Lentini.^(DELI 1999) In the modern language ''natura'' is also the natural environment little altered by people, as in ''difesa della natura''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nature personified as a generating force is ''Madre Natura''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''In natura'' is used for payment in goods rather than money, and ''contro natura'' for what goes against natural law.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Rinaldo d'Aquino uses ''natura'' for the created world.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it for the substance of things.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – DEI records the sense “genitals”.^(DEI|2553)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini has the adjective ''naturale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''natura'' for instinct and temperament.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 18th century – ''Natura morta'' “still life” is modelled on French ''nature morte''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838–1849 – Vincenzo Gioberti uses ''naturalismo'' in philosophy.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|nature]]: the whole of living beings, forces and phenomena of the universe, seen as having their own order and laws.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The natural [[m|en|environment]], little changed by human activity: ''Ogni estate passiamo due settimane in mezzo alla natura.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' Nature personified as the force at work in the universe, ''Madre Natura''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The innate qualities and tendencies of humans or animals: ''la natura dei lupi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A person's [[m|en|temperament]], character: ''È timido per natura.'' Also a person of a given character.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|essence]] or kind of a thing: ''problemi di natura economica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''In natura'': in kind, in goods rather than money; occurring in nature.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(art)'' ''Natura morta'': a [[m|en|still life]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[naturale]]

+ * [[naturalezza]]

+ * [[naturalismo]]

+ * [[naturalista]]

+ * [[naturalizzare]]

+ * [[naturismo]]

+ * [[naturista]]

+ * [[snaturare]]

+ * [[snaturato]]

+ * [[connaturare]]

+ * [[denaturare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nascere]]

+ * [[la|nātūra]]

+ * [[fr|nature]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}