entry
nature
/ˈneɪtʃər/Inborn character; the natural world
From Latin nat- / nas- (born).
from Latin natura "course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe," literally "birth,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
Word Ancestry
from Latin natura "course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe," literally "birth,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence,"
A word that once meant plain old birth ended up naming the whole wilderness. Romans used natura for a thing’s inborn course, the way an acorn is fated to become an oak, and that sense slid into Old French before English borrowed it in the late 1200s. The same birth-root gave us native, natal, nation, and nascent, which is why nature always feels a little like destiny in work boots. Then English did something wonderfully broad: it stretched the idea from inner character to forests, weather, animals, and the whole unruly world outside the city wall. Shakespeare was already pairing nature with nurture, and the joke still works because one word points inward, the other outward, and together they explain almost everything we argue about in human life.
The Story
A word that once meant plain old birth ended up naming the whole wilderness. Romans used natura for a thing’s inborn course, the way an acorn is fated to become an oak, and that sense slid into Old French before English borrowed it in the late 1200s. The same birth-root gave us native, natal, nation, and nascent, which is why nature always feels a little like destiny in work boots. Then English did something wonderfully broad: it stretched the idea from inner character to forests, weather, animals, and the whole unruly world outside the city wall. Shakespeare was already pairing nature with nurture, and the joke still works because one word points inward, the other outward, and together they explain almost everything we argue about in human life.
Kin & Kindred
From 'nat- / nas-'·born; birth; be born
Derived Terms
English words from this root