| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈnatural, n.
[Subst. use of next, in earlier senses after F. naturel, L. nātūrāl-is, -e, etc.]
I.
†1. A native of a place or country. Obs. (very common c 1580–1650).
1509in Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 436 He schuld send hys commandement unto al the naturalys of the reame of Castyl. 1598Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 28 Therby do rise..tumults amongst the naturals of the country. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 258 The more seuere that these are to the naturals, the greater their repute with the Spaniard. 1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 128 The naturals who are acquainted with their manners, presently follow them, to get the honey. 1748in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1911) VI. 229, I..am become a Natural of the country or country born as some call themselves.
2. One naturally deficient in intellect; a half-witted person. Cf. natural a. 14 a.
1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 934/1 It could never be done more naturally, not thovgh he that wrote it were even a very naturall in dede. a1569A. Kingsmill Godly Advise (1580) 10 If hee bee but meane in that respecte, then yet he is no foole, no naturall. 1623T. Scot Highw. God 44 Nature cannot bee so blinde as to suffer any but naturals to beleeve this their doctrine. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 530 We are still mere naturals, no better than fools and madmen. 1722Steele Consc. Lovers ii. i, I own the Man is not a Natural; he has a very quick Sense, though very slow Understanding. 1777F. Burney Early Diary July, She..is not quite a natural, that is, not an absolute idiot. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge x, The person who'd go Quickest, is a sort of natural, as one may say, sir. 1878C. Gibbon For the King iv, The man shuffled and bowed low, with the vacant grin of a natural.
3.
†a. One who is morally in a state of nature. Obs.
†b. A naturalist. Obs.
†c. A mistress. Obs.
d. A poet of nature. rare.
1643Trapp Comm. Gen. i. 24 So it is here with the man that is no more then a meer naturall. But he that is spirituall discerneth all things. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts (1684) 107 By Zoographers and Naturals the same is named Ispida. 1688Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia 1, You..took a pretty wench a Gentleman's natural away by force. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Natural, a Mistress, a Wench. a1849H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 117 The superiority of Pope to the naturals.
II.
†4. pl.
a. The mental or (rarely) physical endowments of a person; natural gifts or powers of mind (or body). Obs. (common in 17th c.).
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 124 Bycause his vnderstandynge and other naturalles be hole in hym. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. Ep. Ded., The Author thereof was a meere heathen man, and directed onely by his pure Naturals when he wrote it. 1627Sanderson Serm. I. 264 So much, if he had not been wanting to himself in the use of his naturals, he might have known. 1650B. Discolliminium 46 For my naturalls, I am a proper man, foure foot, twelve inches and an halfe high. 1678Gale Crt. Gentiles iv. iii. iv. 144 A person of excellent naturals, and those wel improved by acquired literature.
†b. Natural products. Obs. rare.
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 162 Of them which bee the Naturals of this Realme, and in what part of the Realme they are to be had. 1637P. Vincent Late Battell New Eng. 19, I speake not of the naturals of the countrey, fish, fowle, &c. which are more than plentifull.
†c. Natural appendages. Obs. rare—1.
a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xvi. §1 (1622) 164 Their Temples, their Altars, their Sacrifices, and other such like naturalls of Religion.
†5.
a. in one's pure naturals (after med.L. in puris naturalibus): in a purely natural condition, not altered or improved in any way; also, in a perfectly naked state. Obs. (common in 17th c.).
1579J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf D iv, Yf they..remained but in theyr pure naturalles, they would neuer so speake for a faultor prince of Rome. 1607R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of Wonders 58 A Frenchman taken in his pure naturals. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. v. §8 Exhibiting the inclinations of their Authors in pure Naturalls without any adulterated addition. 1704Norris Ideal World ii. iii. 257 If we could take them..in their undress, and see them as they are in their pure naturals. 1737L. Clarke Hist. Bible (1740) II. xii. 721 He has laid himself open, even in his pure naturals, for the veriest brute.
†b. So (more rarely) in one's naturals. Obs.
1637P. Vincent Late Battell New Eng. 3 This part (though in its naturals) nourished many natives. 1650Bounds Public Obed. (ed. 2) 26 The Common-wealth were dead, and each man were left in his naturals, to submit of himself. 1704Swift T. Tub Bkseller to Rdr., I thought it fairer Dealing to offer the whole Work in its Naturals.
†6.
a. pl. Natural things or objects; matters having their basis in the natural world or in the usual course of nature. Obs.
1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. A iv b, Than come vnto the naturalles, and after to the vnnaturalles. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 193 The abiectest naturalls haue their specificall properties. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 521 Alway in Naturalls: sometime in Politicalls. 1650T. Vaughan Anthroposophia 24 It answers to the Holy Ghost, for amongst Naturalls it is the onely Agent, and Artificer. a1680J. Corbet Non-conf. Plea (1683) 29 As in Naturals, the inferior subordinate causes have no power of acting against the efficacy of the Superior; so in Morals [etc.]. 1705Char. Sneaker in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) XI. 29 This is the Aristotelian principle in naturals; but the sneaker adapts it to politicks. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v., These are called naturals, natural things, or things according to nature..in contradistinction to non-naturals.
b. The genital parts. Also sing. [L. naturalia.] Obs. or rare.
1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 209 They button up the naturals of Mares. 1922Joyce Ulysses 396 Any female..with the desire of fulfilling the functions of her natural.
7. Mus.
a. A note in a natural scale.
1609J. Dowland Ornithop. Microl. 81 But set..a Flat against a Flat, or at least against a naturall. For the Naturals are doubtfull [etc.]. 1818Busby Gram. Mus. 224 Any natural, flat, or sharp, proper to the key. 1880in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 52/1 The normal key, which happens..to begin on C, is constructed of what are called Naturals.
b. The sign ♮ used to cancel a preceding sharp or flat, and give a note its ‘natural’ value.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 544 This inconvenience may be avoided..by marking the note sol with a natural. 1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. v. 57 The Natural must be always considered as representing a Sharp or a Flat. 1838Penny Cycl. X. 302/2 In antient music, before the character of the Natural was introduced, the Flat was employed to reduce any note..to its natural state. 1880in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 448/1 Naturals do not occur in the signatures of keys, except when it is necessary to cancel all or part of a previous signature.
c. One of the white keys on a pianoforte or similar instrument.
1880in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 53/1 Each natural is covered as far as it is visible with ivory.
†8. A natural wig. Obs. rare.
1724in N. & Q. 3rd Ser. VIII. 307 All sorts of Perukes, as..Minister's Bobs, Naturalls, Half-Naturals.
9. a. In the card-game of vingt-et-un. (See quots. 1830 and 1897.)
[1830‘Eidrah Trebor’ Hoyle made Fam. 78 If 21 is dealt in the first instance, that is, in the first two cards, it is styled a natural vingt-un.] 1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Legacy (1854) 249 The first natural came in Mr. Flitter's division. 1866Anna L. Spencer Scenes Sub. Life 16 Her cards..she now and then forgot altogether, though excessively pleased when informed that she had had a natural. 1897Foster Hoyle 475 The dealer first examines his hand. If he has exactly 21, an Ace and a tenth card, which is called a natural, he shows it at once.
b. (See quot. 1897.) Also in other gambling games, any combination or score that immediately wins the stake. Also fig.
1762Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 165 He had something in his face gave me as much pleasure as a pair⁓royal of naturals in my own hand. 1897Foster Hoyle 568 Crap Shooting, If the total of the two dice on the first throw is seven or eleven, it is called a nick, or natural, and the caster immediately wins the stakes. 1929E. Wallace Red Aces xi. 110 Somebody would draw a six to these, and the banker would have a ‘natural’—which means, I understand, that he would win. 1930J. Lait Big House 15 Dean Ward Kent arrived at the big house with a ‘natural’ staring him in the face, for that is what the crap-shooting inmates call a seven-year ‘stretch’. 1962K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed xv. 109 The dice bounced to a natural.
III. †10. a. Natural disposition, inclination, or character. Obs.
1564in Robertson Hist. Scot. (1759) II. App. 17 Of her own natural, her Majesty has a certain inclination to pity the decay of noble houses. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars iv. xlii, He was not bloody, in his Naturall. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 188 The same naturall of lightnesse and inconstancie still remaines in the French. Ibid. 193 Where you shall see the French naturall, very lively..described.
†b. Natural form or condition. Obs.
1633J. Done Hist. Septuagint 68 All was most resplendant in their naturall. 1658Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 261 To show you how the fruits of the garden are to be conserved in their naturall. 1684― Mem. (1857) III. 273 To preserve fruit and flowers in their natural.
11. the natural.
†a. The real thing or person; the life. Obs.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. (Arb.) 310 Painting..represents the naturall by light colour and shadow in the superficiall or flat. 1659J. Leak Waterwks. 31 The Paper was not large enough to draw it so large as the Natural. a1691Sir D. North in North Lives (1826) II. 349, I saw many artificial grots and rocks.., in which the natural of this [petrifaction] was perfectly imitated.
b. That which is natural or according to the ordinary course of things.
1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §15. 57 To study the Super⁓natural as the Philosopher studies the Natural. a1854H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets xii. (1857) 275 Blending together the natural and supernatural.
†12. Native language. Obs. rare—1.
1665G. Havers P. della Valle's Trav. E. India 50 Tartars..of Samarcand, where the Persian Tongue is the natural of the Country.
13. colloq. Short for natural life (natural a. 9 b).
1893G. L. Gower Gloss. Surrey Words 27 In my natural, phrase for ‘in my life’, ‘at any time’. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 220 Yer never see sich a 'owlin' swell as Cocky was in yer born natural. 1911L. Stone Jonah ii. ii. 161, I niver 'eard anythin' like that, in my natural. 1913C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. i. iv. 46, I never worked so hard in all my natural. 1925Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves! iii. 59, I didn't want to have England barred to me for the rest of my natural. 1967J. Porter Chinks in Curtain xviii. 185, I couldn't stay like that for the rest of my natural.
14. A person naturally endowed for (a role, etc.); one having natural gifts or talents; also, a thing with qualities that make it particularly suitable (for some purpose).
1925Hearst's International June 80/2 The fight was what promoters call a ‘natural’. 1929D. Hammett Red Harvest xiii. 132 ‘So you and Noonan are trying to paste his brother's death on me?’ ‘It doesn't need pasting. It's a natural.’ 1930Publisher's Weekly 21 June 2971/2 Mystery fans will devour it; and you can sell it also to anyone who likes a finely written and witty novel. A possible natural. 1933F. Baldwin Innocent Bystander (1935) xiii. 260 But she's a natural... I watched her walk across the stage..and the audience rose to her. 1939Sun (Baltimore) 2 Jan. 1/8 The Hopkins and Murphy appointments are regarded as ‘naturals’ for early-session debates. 1946Coast to Coast 1945 125 This is a natural, son. I can pick this one. 1948F. Brown Murder can be Fun (1951) ix. 132 Hell, it was a natural for publicity for a writer. 1955Observer 24 July 13/7 The sort of play which should have been a natural for television. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. 455/1 But the theme of how the Labour Party was born of the Labour Representation Committee is, as the film-makers say, a ‘natural’. Poor Party makes good. 1964McCall's Sewing i. 10/2 You're a natural for high fashion. 1966Listener 24 Nov. 780/1 (Advt.), These five talks..diversified with 64 photos and 8 maps..make up what will be a ‘natural’ at Christmas, for young and old. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 154 I'm not a natural. This present play is my last, I've decided. 1975Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 23 Feb. 26/4 He was a natural, and gradually began to pick up something of a reputation. 1975Times 25 Feb. 3/6 Railways are a natural for process control and on-line computer systems.
15. Bullfighting. A type of pass made with the cape. Also with Spanish pronunc. |natuˈral|.
1932E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon xviii. 198 The greatest pass with the muleta, the most dangerous to make.., is the natural. In this the man faces the bull with the muleta held in his left hand, the sword in his right. 1959V. J. Kehoe Aficionado! xiv. 174/1 A natural is always in the direction of the arm that makes it. 1967McCormick & Mascareñas Compl. Aficionado i. 24 A natural is a pass; it too may be called a suerte. 1973Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 25 Sept. 29/2 Taking the smaller muleta, he ran off several fine naturales, bringing the bull tightly round him.
16. Archæol. Undisturbed terrain, below the level of cultivation or other working; virgin rock or soil.
1946R. J. C. Atkinson Field Archaeol. 210 Natural rock or ‘natural’, the undisturbed material upon which the soil lies. 1950Notes on Archaeol. Technique (ed. 3) 13 Many avoidable mistakes have been made through failure to identify the real ‘natural’ (undisturbed) layer of a site. Before the excavation proper is started, dig a cutting in undisturbed ground... In one half, stop on the ‘natural’; in the other dig well into it. The ‘natural’ can then be studied in plan and section. 1954M. B. Cookson Photogr. for Archaeologists i. 14 A sharp right-angle where the last archaeological layer meets ‘natural’, balks swept at the end of a day's work, will repay the trouble taken a hundredfold.
17. A hair-style among Blacks in which the hair is not straightened or bleached; spec., an Afro haircut. U.S.
1969Ebony Feb. 27 There's a lean young cat wearing a natural who knows where it's at and tells it like it is. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 42 She wore a natural of small silken ringlets, and a plain white mini with purple tights. 1971Black Scholar Apr.–May 17/1 He has a Black is Beautiful bumper sticker on his car; he has a natural and even wears a dashiki to work. 1973E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 150, I love you, baby... I sure dig that sexy natural.
▪ II. natural, a.|ˈnætjʊərəl, ˈnætʃərəl|
Also 4 -ale, 4–7 -all, 5 -alle.
[a. OF. natural, or ad. L. nātūrāl-is, f. nātūra nature n. + -al1. The variant OF. form naturel was also in use in ME.: see naturel. Most of the leading senses exist in French and Latin.]
I.
1. Of law or justice: Based upon the innate moral feeling of mankind; instinctively felt to be right and fair, though not prescribed by any enactment or formal compact. Esp. in phr. natural law: in political and legal philosophy and theology, doctrines based on the theory that there are certain unchanging laws which pertain to man's nature, which can be discovered by reason, and to which man-made laws should conform; freq. contrasted with positive laws; also (with hyphen) attrib.
13..Cursor M. 9449 (Gött.), Þe lawis bath he gan for-lete, Bath naturale and positiue. a1400Creation 119 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 350 In paradys Adam had two lawys.., The naturall & þe posytyfe. The naturall law was skyll & ryȝht. 1538Starkey England i. i. 17 Man, yf he be brought vp in corrupt opynyon, hath no perceyueance of thys natural law. a1614Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 45 That we be not mislead, with the ambiguity of the word Naturall Law, and the perplex'd variety thereof in Authors. 1651G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 2 The naturall Law is that which nature, or rather God, hath instilled into all Creatures. 1688Mem. Prince Orange in Somers Tracts (1748) II. 300 Your Highness is not obliged, either by our Laws or natural Justice, to have Witnesses to prove the pretended Prince of Wales to be an Imposture. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Law, Natural law may be divided into that natural law of men, which..is called the Law of nature.., and the natural law of countries. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. 42 Undoubtedly the revealed law is (humanly speaking) of infinitely more authority than what we generally call the natural law. 1845Jebb in Encycl. Metrop. II. 687/1 The term natural law, however, is ambiguous, the same writers frequently using it in different senses. 1883Sir W. B. Brett in Law Times Rep. XLIX. 769/1 Natural justice required that the loss..should be recouped by the other party. 1899W. R. Inge Christian Mysticism viii. 306 Wordsworth..shows his affinity with the modern spirit in his firm grasp of natural law. 1915tr. Aquinas's Summa Theologica ii. 1. Question 91. Article 2 This participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law. 1934E. Barker tr. Gierke's Natural Law Theory of Society I. iii. ii. 111 (heading) The natural-law view of the purposes of society and its various groups. 1950A. Verdross-Drossberg in Contemp. Pol. Sci. (Unesco) 598 They are a residue of the ideas of natural law, since the unanimous agreement among civilized nations on a legal principle shows that the latter satisfies the elementary requirements of the legal conscience of mankind. 1951A. Passerin D'Entrèves (title) Natural law: an introduction to legal philosophy. Ibid. 15 The belief in natural law, both as a recognition of a law common to humanity and as an assertion of the fundamental rights of man, was..the distinguishing mark of political thought in Western Europe. 1967Encycl. Philos. V. 451/1 The ideal or ethical law, which is contrasted with positive law..is regarded by natural-law theorists..as grounded in something..more enduring than the mere practical needs of men. 1970W. E. Volkomer Passionate Liberal iii. 64 The immediate reason for Frank's conversion to natural law would appear to lie in the rise of totalitarianism.
2. Constituted by nature; having a basis in the normal constitution of things.
a. Of periods of time, esp. natural day, natural year (see quots.).
c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §7 The day natural, þat is to seyn 24 houris. 1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secretes iv. 67 By the space of twoo naturall dayes. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxii. (1887) 115 The naturall time generally construed is ment by the spring, the summer, the haruest and the wynter. 1594Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xlviii. (1636) 363 The Astronomers reckon their natural day from noonetide to noonetide. 1679Moxon Math. Dict. 95 Natural Year, one Revolution of the Sun by his proper motion, or 365 days and almost 6 hours. 1715tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 237 A Natural Day is the duration of an entire apparent revolution of the Sun about the Earth. Ibid., The Natural Day is either the Astronomical or Civil. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Year, Tropical, or Natural Year, is the time which the sun employs in passing through the Zodiac.
b. Of quantities, numbers, measures, etc.
natural logarithm (see hyperbolic a. 2 b). natural number, one without fractions; also, an actual number as distinguished from a logarithm. natural sine, etc., one taken in an arc whose radius is 1.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. Add. 48, I have joyned the Chord proper to it, which is the Natural Sine of half the Arch doubled. 1743Emerson Fluxions 55 A Circle whose Radius is 1, and natural Tangent [etc.]. 1763― Meth. Increments 113 To find the product of all natural numbers from 1 to 100. 1816tr. Lacroix' Diff. & Int. Calc. 26 note, These logarithms were known under the very improper name of natural or hyperbolic logarithms. 1821J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metric Syst. iii. (1871) 129 As it respects the natural standard it has only been a change from the weight of a kernel of wheat to the length of a kernel of barley. 1864Chambers's Encycl. VI. 172/1 The logarithms..increased along with their corresponding natural numbers.
c. Mus. Of notes, keys, harmony, etc. Also of wind instruments, as natural trumpet (see quot. 1959).
1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v., Natural harmony is that produced by the natural and essential chords of the mode. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 544 You may see that there are [here] at the same time both a sol natural and a sol sharp. 1818Busby Gram. Mus. 30 The natural keys were originally so called in contradistinction to the sharps and flats. Ibid. 49 The scales of C major and A minor..are called natural scales. 1880in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 447/2 The scale of C major..was called ‘the natural scale’ because it has no accidentals. 1910K. Schlesinger Instruments Mod. Orchestra I. xviii. 83 The natural trumpet in which the length and pitch are varied by means of crooks. 1959Collins' Mus. Encycl. 450/1 Natural horn, natural trumpet, a horn or trumpet which is not provided with any method, such a valves, of altering the length of the tube, and can therefore sound no other notes than those of the harmonic series above its fundamental, except as stopped notes. 1966P. Bate Trumpet & Trombone vi. 99 (heading) Natural trumpets: medieval to modern.
d. Of sciences, or methods of combination, arrangement, classification, etc.
1630Wingate (title) Arithmetiqve Made easie, In Two Bookes. The former, of Naturall Arithmetique..; The other of Artificiall Arithmetique. 1668Wilkins Real Char. 297 Natural Grammar (which may likewise be stiled Philosophical, Rational, and Universal). 1859J. R. Greene Protozoa Introd. 24 True classification is contradistinguished by the term natural. 1864Bowen Logic v. 141 Natural, or regular, or direct predication they held to be that in which the genus is predicated of the species.
e. Bot. Applied spec. to the arrangement of plants originated by Jussieu, in contrast to the sexual system of Linnæus, and to the orders, families, etc. resulting from this division. Also Zool., applied to systems of classification based on the characteristics of the animals concerned, and the groups resulting from a classification of this type.
[1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) III. 457/2 Linnæus and most other botanists are of opinion, that there is a natural method, or nature's system.] 1803R. A. Salisbury in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1807) VIII. 7 All the Natural Orders. Ibid. 15 Melastoma in the Eighth Order perhaps alone constitutes a Natural Family. 1809R. Brown ibid. (1811) X. 15 The Linnæan system of botany..has..laid a more solid foundation for the establishment of a natural arrangement. 1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. Introd. 11 The notion of classing species according to the likeness they bear to each other, which is the foundation of the Natural System. 1841T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom i. 2 The apparatus of digestion appears to be among the least efficient for the purpose of a natural division [of the animal kingdom]. Ibid. 3 The researches of this profound physiologist [sc. John Hunter]..did much to approximate a more natural method of classification. 1863Sowerby Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) title-p., English Botany... Third edition.., re-arranged according to the Natural Orders. 1945Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. LXXXV. 4/1 It is understood that a ‘true’ or ‘natural’ classification has, by intention, quite a different basis and expression. 1970Nature 19 Sept. 1272/2 It is always helpful for students to understand thoroughly the natural orders into which insects are divided.
f. natural order, the order apparent in the constitution of matter and operation of forces in nature.
1697M. Earbery Answer to Tractatus Theologico Politicus 18 The one [sc. Human Reason] is founded on the Natural Order of things, and therefore subject to those Imperfections, which are common to all the Works of Nature. 1895F. Thilly tr. Paulsen's Introd. Philos. i. ii. 322 The intellectual law of causality is the basis of our belief in the natural order. 1934Encycl. Social Sci. XI. 284/1 The stoics and certain Roman jurists interpreted natural law as that law which conformed to the natural order of the universe. 1941W. Temple Citizen & Churchman v. 83 The ‘natural order’ by which is meant the consideration of the various departments of life in the light of the essential function of each. 1948Bergin & Fisch tr. Vico's New Sci. §2. 3 The philosophers, contemplating divine providence only through the natural order. 1951C. C. Gillispie Genesis & Geol. vi. 169 Revealed truth, though indispensable to belief, could be apprehended inductively, by inferring a moral order parallel to natural order. 1953C. E. Raven Nat. Relig. i. 2 If grace is radically contrasted with the beauty and truth and goodness of the natural order, then any belief in a real Incarnation is impossible.
g. natural selection: see selection 3 b. Hence natural selectionist, a supporter of the theory of natural selection.
1913G. B. Shaw Quintessence of Ibsenism Compl. p. xv, Capitalism, built up by generations of Scotch Rationalists and English Utilitarians, Atheists, Agnostics and Natural-Selectionists..is proclaimed the bulwark of the Christian churches. 1916― Androcles & Lion p. lxxi, The efforts of Natural Selectionists..to reduce evolution to mere automatism.
h. natural deduction: in Logic, the name given to a method devised separately in 1934 by G. Gentzen (1935 Math. Zeitschrift XXXIX) and S. Jaśkowski (1934 Studia Logica I) whereby formal proofs are obtained solely by the application of rules of inference without appeal to axioms.
1950W. V. Quine Methods of Logic (1952) §28. 166 The method set forth in the present pages is of a type known as natural deduction, and stems, in its broadest outlines, from Gentzen and Jaśkowski (1934). 1954I. M. Copi Symbolic Logic iv. 119 The methods of proof as far assembled (techniques for ‘Natural Deduction’, as they are sometimes called) permit the demonstration of all logically true propositions constructed out of truth-functional connectives and the quantification of individual variables. 1966Amer. Philos. Q. III. 27 (title) Natural deduction rules for obligation. 1969Aristotelian Soc. Suppl. Vol. XLIII. 53 The expression ‘natural deduction’ was introduced, I surmise, under the influence partly of the name bestowed on Herbrand's ‘theorem of deduction’ and partly of the French expression ‘la déduction naturelle’. 1973B. A. Brody Logic iii. 103 Two..methods for showing that inferences are valid. The first, the natural deduction technique, starts from the results of this section.
3. a. natural magic. (See note to magic n. 1.)
1477[see magic n. 1 b]. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 29 Who such monarches for Phisique.., Palmastry, naturall and supernaturall Magique..as some of these arrant Impostours? 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 270 Thy naturall Magicke, and dire propertie, On wholsome life, vsurpe immediately. 1633Costlie Whore iii. iii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Naturall Magique you have brought with you, And such an exorcisme in your name. 1831Brewster Nat. Magic i. (1833) 2 The subject of Natural Magic is one of great extent as well as of deep interest. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 69 Natural Magic..is regarded by most persons of the more enlightened classes..as altogether a deceptive art.
b. Taking place in conformity with the ordinary course of nature; not unusual, marvellous, or miraculous.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 320/2 It was no naturall eclypse. 1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 153 No naturall exhalation in the skie.., But they will plucke away his naturall cause, And call them Meteors, prodigies, and signes. 1610― Temp. v. 227 These are not naturall euents, they strengthen From strange to stranger. 1663H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xii. 39 It seemed to be rather a miracle than any natural work. 1698J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 37 The Land..is raised higher than the Sea..without the help of Natural and Mechanical causes.
c. Having a usual or normal character († or constitution); not exceptional in any way.
1522More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 101 Abusing y⊇ part & office of a natural man and reasonable creature. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 145 We haif in Jesse found the rod, God and man naturall. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 146 We were come into a more convenient and naturall temperature. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 74 The natural or perpendicular motion. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 492 Natural Motion, a term applied to the descending parabolic curve of a shot or shell in falling.
d. Of death: Happening in the course of nature, as the result of age or disease, as opposed to one brought about by accident, violence, poison, etc. Esp. in phr. natural causes.
1576Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 106 So likewise yong men..die by naturall death as well as old men doe. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 121 The grant is usually made ‘for the term of a man's natural life’; which can only determine by his natural death. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 350 If there arises the slightest suspicion that his death was not natural, they put his wife to the torture. 1889A. B. Hicks Hints to Medical Men concerning Certificates of Death 6 Deaths which may be due to either natural causes, or to neglect or gross carelessness. c1900H. A. Jones in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 382 When I heard this story was being circulated I thought it would be better to take no notice and let it die a natural death. 1921A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles xiii. 292 He strenuously, and quite uselessly, upheld the theory of ‘Death from natural causes’. 1970P. Moyes Who saw her Die? viii. 105 The death certificate says ‘Natural Causes’. That's the doctor's verdict. 1974‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xii. 104 Disappeared... May have died of course. One does tend to forget the natural causes. 1975S. Brett Cast xi. 104 Assisting her investigations into a perfectly natural death as if it were murder.
transf.1837Lockhart Scott (1839) VII. 189 The conversation so far as it tended that way died a natural death.
e. natural childbirth, methods of relaxation and of physical co-operation with the natural process of childbirth, first advocated by G. D. Read in 1933; now applied more generally to childbirth with minimal medical or technological intervention; also attrib.
1933G. D. Read (title) Natural childbirth. 1948H. Heardman (title) A way to natural childbirth. 1960Guardian 6 July 5/1 There are still many doctors and hospitals which do little or nothing to teach expectant mothers about the various methods of ‘natural childbirth’. 1964W. Markfield To Early Grave (1965) x. 181 Inez, six and a half months gone, was at a natural childbirth class. 1965W. Lamb Posture & Gesture ix. 124 One is the practice of ‘natural childbirth’, still contentious, but with an organized following. 1971D. D. Moir Pain Relief in Labour ii. 11 The Grantly Dick Read or Natural Childbirth method dates from 1935 and is based on the idea that fear, tension and pain are linked together. 1974‘E. Lathen’ Sweet & Low vii. 76 It was not easy..to become an instant swinger after ten years..of natural childbirth.
4. a. In a state of nature, without spiritual enlightenment; unenlightened, unregenerate.
1526Tindale 1 Cor. ii. 14 For the naturall man perceaveth not the thyngs off the sprete off god. ― Jas. iii. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above: but is erthy, and naturall, and divlysshe. 1609Downam Chr. Liberty 36 Let naturall or vnconuerted men apply this to themselues. 1631Gouge God's Arrows iv. §3. 378 Naturall men are as wolves, tigres, devils one to another. 1675R. Barclay Apol. Quakers ii. §1. 19 Many carnal and natural Christians will oppose this Proposition. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iv. (1872) 48 The heathen—manifestly natural men—had ‘the work of the law written in their hearts’.
b. natural religion. (See quot. 1725.)
1675Wilkins Nat. Relig. 39, I call that Natural Religion, which men might know,..by the meer principles of Reason,..without the help of Revelation. 1711M. Henry Faith in Christ Wks. 1853 II. 283/2 The Christian religion..is consonant to and perfective of natural religion. 1725Watts Logic ii. v. §3 The Things knowable concerning God, and our Duty by the Light of Nature are called natural Religion. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. Ded., The public have now before them the evidences of Natural Religion. a1835McCulloch Attributes (1843) I. 3 This is The Proof from Natural Religion. 1870J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. x. 479 Revelation begins when Natural Religion fails.
c. natural theology, theology based upon reasoning from natural facts apart from revelation. Hence natural theologian.
1677Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 102 The Philosophers,..assuming a new Divinitie or Religion of their own inventing, called..Natural Theologie. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. Concl., These points being assured to us by Natural Theology, we may well leave to Revelation the disclosure of many particulars. 1840Macaulay Ess., Ranke's Hist. (1851) I. 129 Enigmas which perplex the natural theologian. 1877E. R. Conder Bas. Faith i. 16 If natural theology be regarded as based on natural religion [etc.].
d. Having only the wisdom given by nature; not educated by study. rare.
1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 425 If this had been realized..the natural man would have outdone the philosopher. a1871Grote Eth. Fragm. v. (1876) 132 The ἀρχαὶ of the wise man (σόϕος) and the natural man (ϕυσικὸς) are derived from experience.
5. a. Having a real or physical existence, as opposed to what is spiritual, intellectual, fictitious, etc.
1526Tindale 1 Cor. xv. 44 Hit is sowne a naturall body, and ryseth a spretuall body. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 177 If Christes body be a naturall body vpon earth, speaketh he of all naturall bodies of the earth? 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. 333 Which is the naturall man, And which the spirit? 1618T. Adams Wks. (1862) III. 66 In a natural man at such an affrightment, all the blood runs to the heart. 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 403 They will produce..Spiritual effects with a power much above what natural Agents can exert. 1710Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. i. §4 That sensible objects have an existence natural or real, distinct from their being perceived. 1712― Pass. Obed. §14 If from the moral we turn our eyes on the natural world. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 335 In all feoffments and grants to natural persons..no word but the word heirs..will create an estate in fee simple. 1882National Bank Act (U.S.) 8 Associations for carrying on the business of banking..may be formed by any number of natural persons.
b. Pertaining to, operating or taking place in, the physical (as opposed to the spiritual) world.
1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 141 b, Will, beyng straighted wtin y⊇ same limittes and boundes of naturall causes, hath no power..to atchieve those spirituall good things. 1639Rouse Heav. Univ. viii. (1702) 103 As in natural marriages two are one flesh. 1872Liddon Elem. Relig. (ed. 2) Pref. 10 ‘Scientific objectors’ to prayer on the ground of a supposed invariability of natural law, are not, generally speaking, Theists at all. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. (ed. 2) 5 In its true sense Natural Law predicates nothing of causes.
†c. (See quot.) Obs. rare—1.
1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. 514 The..Division of Pagan Gods..into Animal and Natural (by Natural being meant Inanimate) is utterly to be rejected.
6. a. Existing in, or formed by, nature; consisting of objects of this kind; not artificially made, formed, or constructed.
1568Turner Natures of Baths title-p., All sycke persones that can not be healed without the helpe of natural bathes. 1587Golding De Mornay Pref. (1592) 9 Professors of the knowledge of nature and naturall things. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. 224 A natural Perspectiue, that is, and is not. 1632Lithgow Trav. vi. 279 We saw also a naturall rocke in the high way. 1668Evelyn Diary 23 July, Divers glossa petra's and other natural curiosities found in digging. 1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 7 You promised me a regular Account of natural Things, and said we should begin with the Heavens. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 155 A fertile plain, watered by the natural and artificial channels of the Tigris. a1821Keats Hyperion i. 86 Like natural sculpture in cathedral cavern. 1853Maurice Proph. & Kings xx. 351 To make them acquainted with natural scenery. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 1 In the earth, with its oceans of water and of air, we find those natural resources.
b. Of substances or articles: Not made, manufactured, or obtained by artificial processes. Also sometimes applied to simple products in contrast to those requiring more elaborate preparation. spec. in phrs. natural foundation (see quots. 1906, 1963); natural gas (orig. N. Amer.), inflammable gas occurring underground, consisting chiefly of methane and other simple paraffins and often found associated with petroleum; natural glass, any of various naturally occurring substances which resemble glass in appearance, having solidified too quickly to crystallize.
1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 355 Of pitch there are two kindes, the one being naturall, and taken out of certain stones. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. (1650) 174 There being..in every thing we eat, a naturall and concealed salt. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 5 In some measure like natural camphor. 1825Canad. Courant (Montreal) 17 Dec. 1/5 This is undoubtedly the first attempt which has ever been made to apply natural Gas to so extensive and useful a purpose. 1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 264 That species obtained directly from fused iron, which is termed natural steel. 1835Sir J. Ross N.-W. Pass. xlii. 563 The first natural water we had obtained. 1846S. F. Smith Theatr. Apprenticeship 102 Many of the stores and shops in the village are lighted with natural gas! 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 134 Just at present ‘natural’ sticks—that is, those cut from the stem with the bark on—are rather popular. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 813/2 The use of natural gas for illumination, and even for metallurgical purposes, has lately become a matter of importance... The gas obtained from wells or bore-holes was used for illumination in Fredonia, N.Y., as early as 1821. 1906H. Y. Margary in G. A. T. Middleton Mod. Buildings I. iii. i. 71/1 Natural foundation is the name applied to such as are formed on the soil itself, and it is applicable when the soil is practically incompressible. 1917Jrnl. Geol. XXV. 540 Natural glass is, of course, varied in composition in comparison with the various types of igneous rocks, yet the average obsidian is probably not much more varied than some of the amorphous minerals. 1930Economist 22 Mar. 654/2 Interest is being taken in utilities and oils with natural gas possibilities. 1938E. G. Warland Building Construction i. i. 1 Natural foundation beds should be incompressible or equally yielding over the whole area and not subjected to atmospheric or other influences which may alter its nature or powers to resist the loads to be placed upon them. 1942Chem. Abstr. XXXVI. 6452 (heading) Transformation of natural glasses into crystalline rocks by subjection to high gas and water-vapor pressures. 1957Ann. Reg. 1956 76 The Government's proposal for financing the natural gas pipeline from Alberta to Ontario. 1963Gloss. Gen. Building Terms (B.S.I.) 18 Natural foundation, soil requiring no preparation or other foundation to support a building or structure. 1971W. Vogel Struct. & Crystallization Glasses i. 13 In the earliest times of world history, quartz porphyry in particular, and other extrusive rocks, solidified on rapid chilling as natural glasses, e.g. pitch-stone, perlite, obsidian or pumice. 1972Guardian 17 Feb. 9 People ran from their homes yesterday because of a gas explosion in Elgin Street, Sheffield... The area had been converted to natural gas about six months ago. 1974Sat. Rev. World (U.S.) 2 Nov. 29/1 Calgary, Canada's oil and natural-gas capital.
c. Of things in some way or other connected with persons. Also natural wig, one made of human hair.
1598Florio, Neo, a naturall marke or mole..vpon the skin. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. ii. 13 Wil you haue them weep our Horses blood? How shall we then behold their naturall teares? 1639N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Wom. i. C 2 They would consider their naturall beauty much more, if they had not so much borrowed beauty with them. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4399/4 The Party wore..a Suit of black Cloath, and a light brown Natural Wig. 1768Goldsm. Good-n. Man i. i, As her natural face decays, her skill improves in making the artificial one. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 193 About 2,500 were afterwards proved to be secure from the Natural Small-Pox. 1863Chambers's Encycl. V. 191/2 The wig, the front, and other imitations of the natural covering of the human head.
d. Of vegetation: Growing of itself; self-sown or planted; not introduced artificially. Also of land: Not cultivated. Esp. in Forestry: natural regeneration, the growth of young trees from seed of those already established.
1526Tindale Rom. xi. 24 Yf thou wast cut out of a naturall wilde olive tree. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden cclix, There groweth up sometimes under the Cistus where it is naturall, a certain Excrescence. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 95 It opens the Land, and makes it much more fruitful, especially in natural Grass. 1762Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 151 It was as full of natural white clover..as any field generally is in twice that time. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 236 There was a considerable tract of natural fir several years ago near Tyndrom. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 147 The natural lands in this colony have never yet been valued at more than 5s. per acre. 1834Brit. Husb. I. 326 Peas, potatoes, and barley, besides natural grass. 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 108 Orchards, commonly of natural fruit, added to the pleasant home-look. 1902B. E. Fernow Econ. Forestry vii. 167 There is also a choice of producing the new crop by seeds falling from the trees of the old crop, by ‘natural regeneration’. 1928R. S. Troup Silvicultural Syst. ii. 11 Natural regeneration..may be obtained either (1) from seed already on the area, or (2) from seed disseminated from trees outside and usually adjoining it. 1946Q. Jrnl. Forestry XL. 18 A good deal of natural regeneration goes on at Bedgebury and had the seedlings been left..a Scots Pine forest could have been formed on the whole of the Pinetum area without any trouble. 1964W. E. Hiley Forestry Venture iii. 64 The artificial weeding of natural regeneration, in which the young trees are irregularly scattered, is almost an impossible task.
e. Special collocations: natural area (see quot. 1964); natural break: see break n.1 8 k; natural cement: a cement obtained by calcining naturally occurring argillaceous limestone; natural food (see quot. 1972); natural language: any naturally evolved language, as opposed to artificial languages constructed (a) for universal or international communications, or (b) for formal logical or mathematical purposes; natural region: each of a number of regions of the earth's surface characterized by a certain uniformity and individuality of character (see quots. 1905, 1937); natural resources (see quot. 1956); natural seasoning = air-seasoning vbl. n. (air n.1 B. 11).
1932Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. XXXVIII. 339 It is more likely that census tracts near the central business districts of Philadelphia would conform more closely to natural areas than in West Philadelphia. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 458/2 A natural area is a territorial unit whose distinctive characteristics—physical, economic, and cultural—are the result of the unplanned operation of ecological and social processes. 1970G. A. & A. G. Theodorson Mod. Dict. Sociol. 271 Natural area, a territorial area with some common, unifying characteristic. The term has been used primarily in human ecology, and usually refers to an area that emerges without planning from the operation of ecological processes.
1882Chem. News 27 Oct. 187/2 (heading) Japanese soils—a natural cement. Ibid., The chemist to the Geological Survey Department of the Japanese Government, was led to look for a natural cement. Such cements are formed by mixing burnt lime with substances of volcanic origin, generally tufas. 1921W. H. Warren Engin. Construction II. iii. 38 In America, Rosendale cement is largely used; it is a natural cement, being first found at Rosendale, Ulster County, N.Y. It is slower setting, weaker, and cheaper than Portland cement. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. II. 627/1 Natural cement, a naturally occurring argillaceous limestone, calcined and pulverized, is slower-setting and less uniform in quality than portland cement.
1934H. C. Sherman Food & Health xvii. 160 Natural foods,..nature's wholes of the kinds to which our own bodies have been adjusting themselves throughout our evolutionary history. 1956I. Orga Cooking with Yogurt 8 Yoǧurt is a natural food and..only needs the simplest equipment. 1963B. T. Hunter Natural Foods Cookbk. p. xv, Many thoughtful people are..seeking out the good old flavors, textures and nutrients of the natural foods their grandparents enjoyed. 1970U. M. Cavanagh Cooking & Catering Wholefood Way 9 The emphasis is on natural whole foods such as stoneground wholewheat flour, brown sugar, natural unpolished rice and honey. 1972New York 8 May 49 Natural food..refers to food after the growing stage; food that is unprocessed, not treated with preservatives, artificial colorings or flavorings... Ideally the rule is ‘nothing added, nothing taken away’.
[1668J. Wilkins Ess. Real Character & Philosophical Lang. i. i. 2 There is scarce any subject that hath been more thoroughly scanned and debated amongst Learned men, than the Original of Languages and Letters. 'Tis evident enough that no one Language is natural to mankind.] 1774Ld. Monboddo Orig. & Progress of Lang. II. iii. xiii. 445 If we understand the sign, we have in effect the definition of the thing, then is the language truly a philosophical language, and such as must be universal among philosophers... It may also be said to be a natural language..since it follows the order of the human mind in forming the ideas of which language is the expression. 1864Max Müller Lect. Sci. Lang. 2nd Ser. ii. 58 A grammatical framework, too, is wanted before the problem of an artificial language can be considered as solved. In natural languages the grammatical articulation consists either in separate particles or in modifications in the body of a word. 1871S. P. Andrews Primary Synopsis Universology & Alwato vi. 95 The ideas themselves are the most subtle and embarrassing, and natural language then exactly echoes this embarrassment. As we descend to more feasible domains the words will become correspondingly more feasible. 1888H. A. Strong tr. Paul's Princ. Hist. Lang. xxiii. 501 The artificial language of a large area has a tendency to become dialectically differentiated..in much the same degree as the natural language within a particular territory. 1889Literary World 22 June 209/1 The progress of education..will enable each to divest himself of the crudities of his natural language. 1933L. Bloomfield Language xxviii. 506 The political difficulty of getting any considerable number of people all over the world to study, say, Esperanto, will probably prove so great that some natural language will outstrip it. 1956J. H. Woodger tr. Tarski's Logic, Semantics, Metamath. viii. 267 Philosophers who are not accustomed to use deductive methods..are inclined to regard all formalized languages with a certain disparagement, because they contrast these ‘artificial’ constructions with the one natural language—the colloquial language. 1962U. Weinreich in Householder & Saporta Probl. Lexicography 30 Much less can we claim for natural-language lexicography that the definiens should be literally substitutable for the definiendum in normal discourse. 1963L. Loevinger in H. W. Baade Jurimetrics 14 The abstract is recorded in natural language stating the significant index terms. 1970A. Cameron et al. Computers & O.E. Concordances 6 University courses in natural-language programming are now widely available for undergraduates. 1973M. Dummett Frege xiii. 463 A theory of truth which attempts to display the role of the notion of truth..is not a completely separate enterprise from an account of the word ‘true’ as used within natural language.
1905J. Herbertson in Geogr. Jrnl. XXV. 302 What are the characteristic and distinguishing elements of the areas which we may term natural regions? Ibid. 309 We may divide the world up into the following types of natural regions:—1. Polar... 2. The cool temperate regions... 3. The warm temperate regions... 4. (a) The west tropical deserts... 5. Lofty tropical or sub-tropical mountains... 6. Equatorial lowlands. Ibid., A natural region should have a certain unity of configuration, climate, and vegetation. 1937Geography XXII. 253 ‘Natural regions’ has been used to cover two distinct types of unit-areas of the earth's surface: (i) those which are marked out as possessing certain common physical characteristics—e.g., a certain kind of structure and surface relief, or a particular kind of climate,—and (ii) those regions which possess a unity based upon any significant geographical characteristics, whether physical, biological or human..as contrasted with areas marked out by boundaries imposed..without reference to any geographical unity of the areas. 1971Biol. Conservation IV. 247 (heading) Towards a system for classifying natural regions of the world and their representation by National Parks and Reserves.
1870Natural resources [see resource 1 b]. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 24 Mar. 13/3 We have toasted our natural resources and talked of the wonderful possibilities of the Province. 1956J. C. Swayne Conc. Gloss. Geogr. Terms 100 Natural resources, any materials or conditions existing in nature which may be capable of economic exploitation.
1936R. R. Rivers How to buy Timber iii. 15 Small, specially cut pieces of wood (usually Pine) are inserted crossways between each board in order to let in the air, and so season. That method is called ‘air-drying’, or ‘natural seasoning’. It is a slow process. 1966A. W. Lewis Gloss. Woodworking Terms 87 The two main methods of seasoning are natural or air seasoning, and kiln drying or artificial seasoning.
7. a. Closely imitating nature; life-like, exact.
1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 30 b, The most naturall resemblant picture of a Gentleman with two hornes on his forehead. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iii. 74 b, Of the Ianissaries going to the warres yee may see the naturall draught by the figure following. 1821Scott Kenilw. vi, How beautiful are these hangings! How natural these paintings, which seem to contend with life! 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. I. App. xxi. 399 By natural representation is here meant as just and perfect an imitation of nature as the technical means of art will allow.
b. Having the ease or simplicity of nature; free from affectation, artificiality, or constraint; simple, unaffected, easy.
1607Shakes. Timon v. i. 88 Thy Verse swels with stuffe so fine and smooth, That thou art euen Naturall in thine Art. 1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 17 My zeale, which is naturall and honest. 1706Walsh Let. to Pope 20 July, In all the common subjects of Poetry, the thoughts are so obvious (at least if they are natural). 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Marotic, A peculiarly gay, pleasant, yet simple and natural manner of writing. 1774Goldsm. Retal. 101 On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting; 'Twas only that, when he was off, he was acting. 1848Clough Amours de Voy. ii. ix, 'Tis an excellent race..and..E'en under Pope and Priest, a nice and natural people. 1863E. M. Sewell Glimpse of World 199 Just put all thought of yourself aside and be natural. 1877W. Bruce Comm. Revel. 73 Revealed truth as expressed in natural language.
Comb.1828Moore Mem. (1854) V. 320 A handsome and natural mannered young fellow.
c. Having the normal form; not disfigured or disguised in any way.
1800Med. Jrnl. IV. 97 Her feet are now as natural and well shaped as any other child's of the same age. 1863Chambers's Encycl. V. 192/1 The people..returning to natural and unpowdered hair.
d. Acting in accordance with one's real character; free from disguise.
1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 73 At home it is..that we show the natural-man. 1889Spectator 12 Oct., [If he] said to every guest precisely what arose in his mind to say, he would be a more ‘natural’ man.
e. U.S. Wild, savage.
1849J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn xxxvi, Ned Hazard's a pretty hard horse to ride, too; only look at his eye,—how natural it is!
II.
8. a. Implanted, existing, or present, by nature; inherent in the very constitution of a person or thing; innate; not acquired or assumed.
c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1622 Now I apply thy naturall reson Vnto my wordys. c1430― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 46 By ther natural hevenly influence. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 14 In hyr face..of natural yiftys plente was I-now. 1483in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 32 Hur naturall kinde and disposicion. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 303 A natural desyre and appetyte to be knytte & ioyned with them agayne. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 10 If either of these twoo would seeke to followe their Naturall aptnesse, it were moste like thei should excell. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. xiv. (1635) 226 Our naturall heat is far more vigorous in Winter then in Summer. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. ix. 18 That it may by Natural Instinct shut up the mouth of the Stomach. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. i, The natural love of life gave me some inward motions of joy. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scandal iii. iii, Wine does but draw forth a man's natural qualities. 1824Bentham Bk. Fallacies Wks. 1843 II. 393/2 He is thus ignorant, if natural talent does not fail him, because he is so idle. 1871Mozley Univ. Serm. v. (1876) 99 The soul has natural feelings and affections for it to feed upon.
b. natural parts, native ability, apart from learning. ? Obs.
1655Culpepper's Riverius Printer to Rdr., If they be men of good Natural Parts. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 27 He very well understood his own advantages, natural parts, gifts and acquirements. 1710[see part n. 12]. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 125 A rough man, with good natural parts.
c. natural right(s), in Western political philosophy, esp. since the 18th century, doctrines derived from concepts of the nature of man and the relationship of the individual to the state whereby certain rights are formulated (see quots.) which the state ought to safeguard.
1689tr. B. de Spinoza's Treat. Theol. Pol. xvi. 343 In Democratical Government, no man so transfers his own Natural Right to another, as for ever after to be excluded from consultation, but only transfers it upon the major part of the Society, of which he still makes one. 1791T. Paine Rights of Man 111 The end of all political associations, is, the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression. Ibid., The exercise of the natural rights of every man, has no other limits than those which are necessary to secure to every other man the free exercise of the same rights. 1796Encycl. Brit. XVI. 244/1 Natural rights are those which a man has to his life, limbs, and liberty; to the produce of his personal labour; to the use, in common with others, of air, light, and water, &c. 1925A. D. Lindsay Karl Marx's Capital iii. 60 The labour theory of value is.., like all theories of natural right, a revolutionary doctrine. Ibid. 61 Theories of natural right are always to this extent misleading—that they are statements of ideals which pretend to be statements of fact. 1939E. Beneš Democracy i. 7 The French Revolution became by the declaration of human rights the expression of the whole school of philosophy which for centuries fought for the recognition of the so-called ‘natural rights’—that is, for the innate rights of man, the equality of human beings. 1955Philos. Rev. LXIV. 175, I shall advance the thesis that if there are any moral rights at all, it follows that there is at least one natural right, the equal right of all men to be free. 1971A. R. Ball Mod. Pol. & Govt. vii. 124 The justification for these individual rights was to be found in the theories of natural rights, rights that were beyond the competence of any government interference.
d. natural frequency, the frequency at which a mechanical or electrical system oscillates when not subjected to any external forces.
1908J. A. Fleming Elem. Man. Radiotelegr. i. 33 If..oscillations are maintained which have a frequency different from the natural frequency of [the] circuit, they are called forced oscillations. 1922Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 961/1 If the natural frequency is nearly equal to that of the applied force..we have the phenomenon known as resonance. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics ix. 370 Very serious problems arise if the lowest natural frequency of the vehicle approaches the control frequency. 1971L. T. Agger Introd. Electr. xxiv. 435 The resonant frequency..in the present simple case is the same as the natural frequency.
9. a. Normally or essentially connected with, or pertaining to, a person or thing; consonant with the nature or character of the person or thing.
c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 114 He hath me dryuen ayen myn entent And contrary to my course naturall. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 75 The thingis that ar corporale in this erde..movis nocht with the moving of it..bot ȝit have thai othir naturale movementis. 1526Tindale Rom. i. 27 The men lefte the naturall vse of the woman. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 150 Thyes clookes..be all of one coloure, and that is the naturall colour of the wul. 1579Langham Gard. Health (1633) 1 Acatia..setteth the loose matrix in the naturall place. 1667Milton P.L. x. 740 All from mee..Shall..on mee redound, On mee as on thir natural center light. 1710Addison Whig Examiner No. 5 ⁋9 The doctrine has a natural tendency to make a good king a bad one. 1776J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 148 We have this week lost a very valuable friend..by the smallpox in the natural way. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 268 That portion of electricity, which every body is supposed to contain, is called its natural share. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 192 The natural recoil of superstition is scepticism. 1885Sir E. Fry in Law Rep. 29 Chanc. Div. 484 The natural inference from the facts.
b. natural life, used chiefly (and now only) with reference to the duration of this.
1483Rolls of Parlt. VI. 238/2 To have and to perceyve yearly the said subsidie of Poundage,..duryng youre Life naturall. 1492in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) II. 290 Duryng thayr lifes naturalles. 1555in Hakluyt Voy. (1599) I. 268 To haue and enioy the said office of Gouernour, to him the said Sebastian Cabota during his naturall life. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 701 Till eyther he had lost his awne naturall lyfe, or vtterly..put vnder hys foes. 1766[see 3 d above]. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 317 H. Cook devised a messuage to R. Cook for the term only of his natural life. 1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish iv, For the remainder of the old woman's natural life.
c. Naturally pertaining or attached to a person or thing; coming easily or spontaneously to one. Hence to come natural to, to be a natural action for (one).
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. v. (Arb.) 160 A certaine contriued forme and qualitie, many times naturall to the writer. 1634W. Tirwhyt Balzac's Lett. 181, I will never believe, that..you will lose those perfections so proper, and naturall unto you. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 800 If this were most natural to the Humane soul and most perfective of it. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §14 For a thing to be natural..to the mind of man, it must appear originally therein. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. ii. (1858) I. 140 He acted throughout in a manner natural to a timid amiable man. 1881Jowett Thucyd. I. 121 The hope, natural to poverty, that a man though poor, may one day become rich. 1890Temple Bar July 383 It comes quite natural to a poor woman to sit up the night with a sick neighbour.
†d. Naturally adapted for, or applicable to, something. Obs. rare.
1603R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 12 The gentlenesse of the aire, with the fertilitie of the ground,..is so propitious and naturall for the increase of fruite. a1614Donne βιαθµνατος (1644) 139 But the most naturall to our present purpose is this. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events A 4 It is a wonder how so many graces and beauties..increased in him, as in a soyle naturall for eloquence.
e. Naturally arising or resulting from, fully consonant with, the circumstances of the case.
1667Milton P.L. xii. 645 Som natural tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon. 1678Dryden Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 193, I judged it both natural and probable, that Octavia..would search out Cleopatra to triumph over her. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 25 ⁋12 It is natural for those who have raised a reputation..to exalt themselves. 1855Brewster Newton II. xx. 219 It was a very natural wish on the part of physical astronomers. 1891Helen B. Harris Apol. Aristides i. 5 It was natural that defences should be written.
10. a. Standing in a specified relationship to another person or thing by reason of the nature of things or force of circumstances.
1516Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 1 My naturall enemy death. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 185 Justice and establishment have not their natural protectors in that country. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 46 In 1440, [Harfleur] again fell into the hands of the ‘natural enemies’ of France. 1880L. Stephen Pope v. 118 He came forward as the champion of Wit..against its natural antithesis, Dulness.
†b. Having a certain relative status by birth; natural-born. Obs.
1524Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Preamble, To brynge the Kynges naturall subiectes from occupacion to idelnes. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 3 b, The Englishe nacion his naturall countrey men. Ibid. 116 Suche was the malicious hartburnynge of the Scottes against their naturall lord. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 82 Whom should hee follow, but his naturall King? 1615G. Sandys Trav. 15 The Bassa of Aleppo, and naturall Lord of the rich vally of Achillis. 1656Blount Glossogr., Naturalize, to make a natural Subject; to admit into the number of natural Subjects.
†11. Native (country or language). Obs.
1508Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 143 A certayne woman of canane came ferre from her natural countre. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 13 The most pernicious and venemus enemy to..his owne naturall countrey. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxix. 150 The naturall countrie of Castor and Pollux. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 256 All the Candians speaking Italian as well as their naturall Greeke tongue. 1657–61Heylin Hist. Ref. i. ii. §4. 36 The Sclavonians..made suit unto the Pope to have the publick Service in their natural Tongue.
12. a. natural spirit: in Old Med., that one of the three spirits (spirit n. 16) which was held to be produced in the liver and pass thence to the heart (see quots.). Now Hist.
1477Spirit Naturall [see spirit n. 16]. 1533Elyot Cast. Helth (1541) 10 b, Spirit naturall taketh his beginninge of the lyver, and by the vaynes. 1543Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. Interpr. Words Vital Spirits, The physitions teache that there ben thre kindes of spirites, animal, vital, and naturall. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 95/1 The blood-making organ, the liver, separates from the blood subtle vapours, the natural spirits, which, carried to the heart, mix with the air introduced by respiration, and thus form the vital spirits. 1928C. Singer Short Hist. Med. ii. 56 Galen believed that food-substance from the intestines was carried as ‘Chyle’ by the portal vein to the liver. There it was converted into blood and endowed with a particular pneuma, the Natural Spirit, which bestowed the power of growth and nutrition. Ibid. iv. 126 We have already traced the wrecking of the Galenic physiology. With its destruction, the old ideas concerning the three types of spirit, natural, vital, and animal, went by the board. 1945D. Guthrie Hist. Med. v. 77 In the liver the blood, endowed with Natural Spirit, passed to the right ventricle, whence it was distributed to nourish all the tissues and organs, and also to the lungs, in order that impurities might be exhaled.
†b. natural parts or natural places, the genitals, the privy members. Obs.
1569Androis tr. Alexis' Secretes iv. i. 14 To cause the naturall places of women to purge. 1601Holland Pliny II. 181 It is good for the naturall parts of women to sit ouer the decoction of it. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 111 The strength of their Backs exert themselves into their Natural Parts. a1754Mead Wks. (1775) 480 A flux of blood from the natural parts.
†c. natural line: in palmistry (see quots.).
1653R. Sanders Physiogn. 92 The Natural line joyned to the Line of Life, denotes the person exactly studious. 1663― Palmistry 37 The midle natural line ought to begin at..the Thenar part of the hand.., and to extend it quite cross the hand.
III. †13. a. Of children: Actually begotten by one (in contrast to adopted, etc.), and especially in lawful wedlock; hence freq. = legitimate. Obs.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. x, This noble Kynge also Hadde thirty sonnes.., That called were his sonnes naturall. 1503in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 195 Ye had..as good mynde towards h[ym] as ye cowd have to your naturall son. 1526Tindale 1 Tim. i. 2 Unto Timothe hys naturall Sonne in the fayth. 1556J. Heywood Spider & F. lxvii. 10 What naturall father can se..His naturall childerne in dread quake and start, Without his hart smarting? 1599Life More in Wordsworth Eccl. Biog. (1853) II. 122 Not one of his naturall children, yet brought up with his other children. c1611Chapman Iliad xiii. 166 He was lodg'd with Priam, who held dear His natural sons no more than him. 1654O. Sedgwick Funeral Serm. 17 A Father doth not more love his Natural child, then the faithful Minister doth those whom he hath begotten unto Christ. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind i. ii. 11 By the Law of the Twelve Tables the Descent..was without Distinction of Primogeniture to all the Children, whether Male or Female, natural or adopted.
†b. Similarly of other relationships (esp. natural father or natural brother) in which there is actual consanguinity or kinship by descent. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 6509 Þen Synabor..Neghit to þe note,—his naturall brother. 1540in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 157 Wher it hath pleased Allmyghty Godde to call my naturall father to his fatall end. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholays Voy. iii. ii. 71 The great Turke being there a natural vncle of the late Rostan. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. iii. 107 My selfe..They take for Naturall Father. 1641Hinde J. Bruen lii. 174 If he saw naturall brethren likely to fall out he would..wisely admonish them for peace.
c. In later use denoting a mere blood-kinship not legally recognized; hence, illegitimate, bastard.
1586J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 90 He hath smoothed vp the matter with a fine terme, in calling him a sonne naturall, a prety word. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. i. i, He in the Malta habit Is the natural brother of the King—a by-blow. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 112 Mara Ragu..had three sons legitimate, and one natural. 1726Arbuthnot It cannot rain, etc., Swift's Wks. 1755 III. i. 133 It has been commonly thought that he is Ulrick's natural brother, because of some resemblance of manners. 1773Johnson in Boswell Hebrides (1785) 502 Supposing me to be her son,..I must have been her natural son. 1817J. Evans Excurs. Windsor 38 He was never married, but had natural daughters, who enjoyed his property. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 135 To pass off one of his natural children as a legitimate daughter of the house of Castile.
14. a. natural fool: one who is by nature deficient in intelligence; a fool or simpleton by birth. † So natural idiot. (Cf. natural n. 2.)
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 187 ‘Thou were’, quod she, ‘a very naturall fole, To suffre me departe’. c1440Alph. Tales 236 Socrates..provid hym bod a wriche & a naturall fule. 1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 46 Ideottes and fooles naturall, now remayning..in his graces custodye. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Ded. 10 b, As though their Soldiers had bene either such naturall fooles or children. 1634Earl of Cork Diary in Lismore Papers Ser. i. (1886) IV. 22 To have the custody of her eldest son.., a naturall Iddeott. c1670Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1681) 98 Saying the King was a Natural Fool, and unfit to govern. 1748Chesterfield Lett. (1792) II. cxliv. 14 Which makes those, who do not know him, take him at first for a natural fool. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 119 Imposed upon by one whom you have thought a natural fool.
b. Having a specified character by nature.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 542 Thou [art] a naturall Coward, without instinct. 1645Ussher Body Divin. (1647) 45 Was this saving wisdome of God known to the Philosophers and naturall wise men of the world? 1674Lond. Gaz. No. 907/4 A Flea bitten Mare,..a natural pacer. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 7. 43 A Natural Critick looks upon a Regular as a Dunce. 1776New Jersey Arch. Ser. ii. I. 103 A Horse,..a natural pacer, but can trot. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. II. 85 He..would have made a natural doctor of mighty potency.
†15.
a. Native to a country; native-born. Obs.
a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B viij b, Vertue maketh a stranger natural. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 193, I wote not how the naturall and auncient inhabitants will beare it. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. x. 27 The naturall people of that Countrie are blacke. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. 359 Welch-men.., Amongst whom was a succession of Naturall Kings. 1665J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 76 The Romans..conquered our Britain; reduced the natural Inhabitants from their Barbarism.
†b. Freq. with national names, as natural Englishmen, etc. Also of words. Obs.
1556[Ponet] (title) A shorte treatise of politike power,..with an Exhortacion to all true naturall Englishemen. 1572Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 159 Thai ar all..of ane cuntry and naturall Scottismen. 1579E. K. Ded. to Spenser's Sheph. Cal. § 1 Good and naturall English words. 1624Massinger Renegado ii. iv, Thou an Italian,—Nay, more..a natural Venetian. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 281 These three castles are guarded by natural Spaniards. 1728Morgan Algiers I. iii. 49 Twelve Colonies could not do very much towards civilizing a People so prone to Unpoliteness as were the natural Africans.
†c. Const. of a place. Obs.
1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 8 God commaunded that the Kings shoulde be naturall of the Kingdome. 1588Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 64 Commonly the captaines be naturall of those prouinces. 1622Bacon Hen. VII (1876) 201 Till Philip were by continuance in Spain made as natural of Spain.
16. a. Feeling or exhibiting natural kindliness, affection, † or gratitude; having natural feeling. Now rare.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §160 Nature byndeth a man to..kepe them, or els he is not a naturall man, remembrynge what god hath done for the. c1530C'tess Salisbury in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 107, I pray you to be a good and naturall modre unto hyr. 1589Greene Menaphon (1616) 66 Doron, to shew himselfe a naturall yong man, gaue her a few kind kisses to comfort her. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 229 A noble..brother, in his loue toward her, euer most kinde and naturall. 1605― Lear ii. i. 86 Loyall and naturall Boy. 1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 10 b, Which are founde in euery well-disposed naturall man. a1640Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. i, Ant. Away, unnatural! Sim...To be natural at such a time Were a fool's part. 1843Dickens Christmas Carol iv, A wicked old screw.., why wasn't he natural in his lifetime?
Comb.a1600Hooker Serm. agst. Sorrow §7 Those men that would gladly haue their friends and brethrens dayes prolonged on earth, (as there is no naturall-hearted man but gladly would).
†b. Const. to or towards a person, etc. Obs.
1537Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 89 If yow wer either naturall towardes your countrey or your famylie, you wolde not thus shame all your kynne. 1561Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 193 As the said John will haive my blessing, to be naturall to the rest of his brether and sisters. 1611B. Jonson Catiline iii. ii, No child can be too natural to his parent.
†17. Sc. Possessed of natural ability. Obs. rare.
a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 284 The lord Home beand ane wyse and naturall man. Ibid. II. 120 Quein regent beand ane vyse and naturall woman.
IV.
18. a. Dealing or concerned with, relating to, nature as an object of study or research; now usual only in natural science(s; hence natural-scientific adj. † natural story = natural history.
c1425Orolog. Sapient. iv. in Anglia X. 357/29 Þe forseide broþere..lefte þe scoles of natural science and worldely wisdome. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 11 Plinius..made..xxxvijt bookes of the story naturalle. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. Pref., He was a wittie man in naturall knowlege, and obserued well the change of wethers. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 215 The natural secrets, in the understanding and knowledge of which I haue..beene instructed. 1622Gataker Spir. Watch (ed. 2) 23 If we may beleeue those that write the naturall story. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1687) 2/1 Thales..first introduc'd Natural and Mathematical Learning into Greece. 1684R. Waller's Nat. Exper. Fly-leaf, The Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge. 1707Phil. Trans. XXV. No. 310. 2418 Some Natural Observations made..in Shropshire. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 5 The School of Aristotle gave a transient attention to the objects of Natural Science. 1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 14 The modes of procedure employed in the three branches of the Natural Sciences. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. vii. 184 It is highly important that this natural-science point of view should be understood at the outset. 1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind i. §4. 15 The behaviour of an animal as it takes place is something to be determined as a natural-scientific event. 1944H. A. Hodges Wilhelm Dilthey iii. 49 Natural-science psychology..takes the mind as a thing among things and studies its processes from a causal point of view. 1949M. Fortes Social Struct. p. xi, Their theme was the comparative study of human society by the methods of the natural sciences. a1963L. MacNeice Astrol. (1964) viii. 262 He began his huge and gallant undertaking while he was still a natural-sciences student at the University of Geneva. 1970G. E. Evans Where Beards wag All xx. 231 When he [sc. the archaeologist] comes..to the question Why?, he is forced to look beyond the natural sciences, and his aids are more likely to come from anthropology, history, geography, [etc.].
b. natural philosophy, the study of natural bodies as such and of the phenomena connected with them; physical science, physics.
1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S) 75 Be all clerkis of naturale philosophy..it is impossible that the hevin be still bot moving. 1471[see philosophy 3]. 1519Interl. Four Elem. Prol., A few conclusyouns..And poyntes of phylosophy naturall. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxv. (1887) 129 Naturall Philosophy, the ground mistresse to Physik. 1649Fuller Just Man's Funeral 5 He..was skil'd in natural Philosophie from the Cedar to the Shrub. 1678Hobbes Decam. i. 6 That sublunary Physiques, which is commonly called Natural Philosophy. a1734North Life Ld. Keeper North (1742) 332 He was adept in natural Philosophy and Mechanicks. 1803Wood Mechanics i. 10 The business of natural philosophy is not to find out what might have been the constitution of nature. 1865Chambers's Encycl. VII. 521/2 Physics..in its narrower sense..is equivalent to Natural Philosophy, which, until of late years, was the term more commonly used in Great Britain.
attrib.1721Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 42 (1726) 221 The place appointed for these examinations is the natural-philosophy school (one of the most public places in the university).
c. Given to the study of natural science; esp. natural philosopher, one devoted to, or skilled in, natural philosophy. Also natural scientist.
c1520L. Andrew Noble Lyfe a ij, The naturall maister Aristotell saith [etc.]. 1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. C j b, A physycyen and Cyrurgyen ought for to knowe y⊇ complexion of the membres, as natural Phylosophers. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 172 The eternitie of the worlde, which is held by some naturall philosophers. 1629Donne Serm. xxxi. 307 Naturall men will write of Lands of Pygmies. 1657Trapp Comm. Job xxxviii. 38 The large Discourses of the natural Philosophers concerning that Subject. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIV. 653/2 Whether matter is acted on.., or whether it acts of itself.., makes no difference to the natural philosopher. 1888R. Hunt in Dict. Nat. Biog. XIV. 187/1 Davy, Sir Humphry.., natural philosopher, was born at Penzance. 1895F. Thilly tr. Paulsen's Introd. Philos. i. i. 59 Natural scientists..are inclined to pursue the former path. 1951E. E. Evans-Pritchard Social Anthropol. iii. 48 This is not the procedure of natural scientists, which most writers of this persuasion—and that means most English social anthropologists—consider themselves to be. 1975Notes & Rec. R. Soc. XXIX. 193 My first intimation of Johnson's views on natural science and on natural scientists came from the Life of Milton.
19. Of wool, cotton, silk, etc.: having a colour characteristic of the natural state when unbleached and undyed. Also natural-coloured adj. Hence as n. to denote a shade of off-white or creamy beige.
1854Morning Post 7 July 1/5 (Advt.), Aberdeen Linsey Woolseys in granite, heather, and natural wools. c1860in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) vii. 74 Vicuna,..woven in its natural colour,..is admirably adapted for Ladies' Cloaks and Gentlemen's Costumes. 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 9/3 Dress Linen..in the ‘natural’ flax color only. Ibid. 12/3 Plain Habutai Silk in natural (cream) color only. 1927T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk 85 Natural-coloured artificial silk yarns. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 9/6 (Advt.), Real Italian hand embroidery on pale cream linen, beautifully worked in blue, gold, rose, or natural. 1941R. Stout Red Threads i. 6 He must have the natural kasha, the one with nubs, by tomorrow afternoon. 1954[see alizarin]. 1971Vogue 15 Oct. 144/3 Dress;..colours: cocoa, blue, natural.
20. natural shoulder U.S. (see quot. 1973). Freq. attrib.
1957Men's Wear (N.Y.) 8 Feb. 69/2 Natural shoulders mark the topcoats as well as the suits. 1958Ibid. 21 Feb. 70/2 What is one man's ‘Ivy’ is another man's ‘natural shoulder garment’. 1962‘I. T. Ross’ Old Students never Die i. 13 In a natural-shoulder suit now, instead of a sloppy sweatshirt. 1969New Yorker 11 Oct. 128/1 (Advt.), We don't make outerwear with padding. All our coats are natural shoulder. 1973Esquire's Encycl. 20th Cent. Men's Fashions 670/1 Natural shoulder. Term applied to a straight-hanging jacket with medium-width, lightly padded shoulders and a center vent. With this style, favored by university men and others, were worn pleatless, trim-cut trousers.
Add:[A.] [19.] b. Of a decorative finish: that retains the colour and texture of the original material; also of wood, etc.: not painted or artificially coloured.
1908Sears, Roebuck Catal. 377/1 The frame is made of thoroughly seasoned hardwood, natural shellac finish. 1933E. T. Hamilton Boy Builder 48 These are known as ‘natural’ finishes, as they do not change the color of the wood. 1937R. Hooper Woodcraft in Design & Pract. ii. 8 Furniture of natural unpolished oak, oatmeal coloured walls, fabrics the same. 1954L. Hochman How to refinish Furnit. 55/1 (caption) The natural grain and wood colour of this walnut coffee table was enhanced with a natural finish. 1974Habitat Ann. Catal. 40/2 Imagine a bedroom custom-built to your own specifications and finished in natural teak.
B. adv. or quasi-adv. In a natural manner; = naturally adv. colloq. and dial.
1793J. Woodforde Diary 23 Feb. (1929) IV. 10 Hopes her Mother will..behave more natural to her than she ever yet did. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xxvii. 290 The doctor asks the questions, generally, because he can keep his countenance... It comes natural to him. 1890Temple Bar July 383 It comes quite natural to a poor woman to sit up the night with a sick neighbour. 1911G. B. Shaw Getting Married 196 My wife had to break me into it. It came natural to her. 1942Z. N. Hurston in S.E. Post 5 Sept. 57/2 Natural, the future..looks something different from the past. 1952E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten i. 33 He'll keep acting natural enough, and you'd swear he wasn't bad at all. 1986‘J. le Carré’ Perfect Spy vii. 163 The most important thing to do is to look busy, act natural, keep everything normal.
▸ natural price n. Econ. (now hist.) the (intrinsic) value of a commodity with respect to the costs of production, as distinguished from the fluctuating market value.
1662W. Petty Treat. Taxes & Contributions 30 If the Corn which feedeth London..be brought forty miles thither, then the Corn growing within a mile of London..shall have added unto its *natural price, so much as the charge of bringing it thirty nine miles doth amount unto. 1776A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. vii. 60 The natural price..is, as it were, the central price, to which the prices of all commodities are continually gravitating. 1851Farmer's Mag. 19 173/1 It had been laid down.., that the natural price of the produce of any country consisted of the rent, the labour, and sufficient profit for the farmer to live by. 1992Economist 3 Oct. 60/2 Ricardo was associated with the iron law of wages, which holds that the natural price of labour is ‘subsistence plus enough for reproduction’. |