Natural Meaning
/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹəl/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjExisting in nature.
adjExisting in nature., Existing in the nature of a person or thing; innate, not acquired or learned.
Sentence Examples
We had better utilize our natural resources.
We must try to conserve our natural resources.
The park is famous for its beautiful and natural rock formations.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ formation of the rocks was caused by erosion over millions of years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The park is a great several place to see many different species of birds in their ____ habitat without several humans disturbing their several lives.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English natural, borrowed from Old French natural, naturel, from Latin nātūrālis, from nātus, the perfect participle of nāscor (“be born”, verb). Displaced native Old English ġecynde. By surface analysis, natur(e) + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The natural Love of Life gave me some inward Motions of Joy."
— 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV):
"With strong natural sense, and rare force of will, he found himself, when first his mind began to open, a fatherless and motherless child, the chief of a great but depressed and disheartened party, and the heir to vast and indefinite pretensions, which excited the dread and aversion of the oligarchy then supreme in the United Provinces."
— 1858, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume II, Longman et al., page 419:
"A South African Uber driver is causing excitement with his impressive operatic singing but, however much natural talent you have, it is a long road to La Scala."
— 2019 July 10, Stephen Moss, “Could your cab driver really be the next Pavarotti?”, in The Guardian:
"What can be more natural or more moving than the circumſtances in which he deſcribes the behaviour of thoſe women who had loſt their huſbands on this fatal day ?"
— 1711 May 25, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, The Spectator, volume I, number 74, page 333:
"The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation."
— 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ formation of the rocks was caused by erosion over millions of years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The park is a great several place to see many different species of birds in their ____ habitat without several humans disturbing their several lives.