Origin of the word nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. «Nature» can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena.^[1]

The word nature is borrowed from the Old French nature and is derived from the Latin word natura, or «essential qualities, innate disposition», and in ancient times, literally meant «birth».^[2] In ancient philosophy, natura is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord.^[3][4]
The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion;^[1] it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers (though this word had a dynamic dimension then, especially for Heraclitus), and has steadily gained currency ever since.

During the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries, nature became the passive reality, organized and moved by divine laws.^[5][6] With the Industrial revolution, nature increasingly became seen as the part of reality deprived from intentional intervention: it was hence considered as sacred by some traditions (Rousseau, American transcendentalism) or a mere decorum for divine providence or human history (Hegel, Marx). However, a vitalist vision of nature, closer to the pre-Socratic one, got reborn at the same time, especially after Charles Darwin.^[1]

Within the various uses of the word today, «nature» often refers to geology and wildlife. Nature can refer to the general realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects—the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth. It is often taken to mean the «natural environment» or wilderness—wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. For example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, «human nature» or «the whole of nature». This more traditional concept of natural things that can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind. Depending on the particular context, the term «natural» might also be distinguished from the unnatural or the supernatural.^[1]

Earth

Earth is the only planet known to support life, and its natural features are the subject of many fields of scientific research. Within the Solar System, it is third closest to the Sun; it is the largest terrestrial planet and the fifth largest overall. Its most prominent climatic features are its two large polar regions, two relatively narrow temperate zones, and a wide equatorial tropical to subtropical region.^[7] Precipitation varies widely with location, from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre. 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by salt-water oceans. The remainder consists of continents and islands, with most of the inhabited land in the Northern Hemisphere.

Earth has evolved through geological and biological processes that have left traces of the original conditions. The outer surface is divided into several gradually migrating tectonic plates. The interior remains active, with a thick layer of plastic mantle and an iron-filled core that generates a magnetic field. This iron core is composed of a solid inner phase, and a fluid outer phase. Convective motion in the core generates electric currents through dynamo action, and these, in turn, generate the geomagnetic field.

The atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered from the original conditions by the presence of life-forms,^[8] which create an ecological balance that stabilizes the surface conditions. Despite the wide regional variations in climate by latitude and other geographic factors, the long-term average global climate is quite stable during interglacial periods,^[9] and variations of a degree or two of average global temperature have historically had major effects on the ecological balance, and on the actual geography of the Earth.^[10][11]

Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed. The field is a major academic discipline, and is also important for mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, knowledge about and mitigation of natural hazards, some Geotechnical engineering fields, and understanding past climates and environments.

Geological evolution

The geology of an area evolves through time as rock units are deposited and inserted and deformational processes change their shapes and locations.

Rock units are first emplaced either by deposition onto the surface or intrude into the overlying rock. Deposition can occur when sediments settle onto the surface of the Earth and later lithify into sedimentary rock, or when as volcanic material such as volcanic ash or lava flows, blanket the surface. Igneous intrusions such as batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, and sills, push upwards into the overlying rock, and crystallize as they intrude.

After the initial sequence of rocks has been deposited, the rock units can be deformed and/or metamorphosed. Deformation typically occurs as a result of horizontal shortening, horizontal extension, or side-to-side (strike-slip) motion. These structural regimes broadly relate to convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and transform boundaries, respectively, between tectonic plates.

Historical perspective

Earth is estimated to have formed 4.54 billion years ago from the solar nebula, along with the Sun and other planets.^[12] The Moon formed roughly 20 million years later. Initially molten, the outer layer of the Earth cooled, resulting in the solid crust. Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, most or all of which came from ice delivered by comets, produced the oceans and other water sources.^[13] The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago.^[14]

Continents formed, then broke up and reformed as the surface of Earth reshaped over hundreds of millions of years, occasionally combining to make a supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago, the earliest known supercontinent Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia which broke apart about 540 million years ago, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart about 180 million years ago.^[16]

During the Neoproterozoic era, freezing temperatures covered much of the Earth in glaciers and ice sheets. This hypothesis has been termed the «Snowball Earth», and it is of particular interest as it precedes the Cambrian explosion in which multicellular life forms began to proliferate about 530–540 million years ago.^[17]

Since the Cambrian explosion there have been five distinctly identifiable mass extinctions.^[18] The last mass extinction occurred some 66 million years ago, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such as mammals. Over the past 66 million years, mammalian life diversified.^[19]

Several million years ago, a species of small African ape gained the ability to stand upright.^[15] The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and further civilization allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, affecting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate. By comparison, the Great Oxygenation Event, produced by the proliferation of algae during the Siderian period, required about 300 million years to culminate.

The present era is classified as part of a mass extinction event, the Holocene extinction event, the fastest ever to have occurred.^[20][21] Some, such as E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, predict that human destruction of the biosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all species in the next 100 years.^[22] The extent of the current extinction event is still being researched, debated and calculated by biologists.^[23][24][25]

Atmosphere, climate, and weather

The Earth’s atmosphere is a key factor in sustaining the ecosystem. The thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by gravity. Air is mostly nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, with much smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, argon, etc. The atmospheric pressure declines steadily with altitude. The ozone layer plays an important role in depleting the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.

Terrestrial weather occurs almost exclusively in the lower part of the atmosphere, and serves as a convective system for redistributing heat.^[26] Ocean currents are another important factor in determining climate, particularly the major underwater thermohaline circulation which distributes heat energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions. These currents help to moderate the differences in temperature between winter and summer in the temperate zones. Also, without the redistributions of heat energy by the ocean currents and atmosphere, the tropics would be much hotter, and the polar regions much colder.

Weather can have both beneficial and harmful effects. Extremes in weather, such as tornadoes or hurricanes and cyclones, can expend large amounts of energy along their paths, and produce devastation. Surface vegetation has evolved a dependence on the seasonal variation of the weather, and sudden changes lasting only a few years can have a dramatic effect, both on the vegetation and on the animals which depend on its growth for their food.

Climate is a measure of the long-term trends in the weather. Various factors are known to influence the climate, including ocean currents, surface albedo, greenhouse gases, variations in the solar luminosity, and changes to the Earth’s orbit. Based on historical records, the Earth is known to have undergone drastic climate changes in the past, including ice ages.

The climate of a region depends on a number of factors, especially latitude. A latitudinal band of the surface with similar climatic attributes forms a climate region. There are a number of such regions, ranging from the tropical climate at the equator to the polar climate in the northern and southern extremes. Weather is also influenced by the seasons, which result from the Earth’s axis being tilted relative to its orbital plane. Thus, at any given time during the summer or winter, one part of the Earth is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun. This exposure alternates as the Earth revolves in its orbit. At any given time, regardless of season, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience opposite seasons.

Weather is a chaotic system that is readily modified by small changes to the environment, so accurate weather forecasting is limited to only a few days.^[27] Overall, two things are happening worldwide: (1) temperature is increasing on the average; and (2) regional climates have been undergoing noticeable changes.^[28]

Water on the Earth

Water is a chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) and is vital for all known forms of life.^[29] In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor, or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface.^[30] On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large bodies of water, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds, and precipitation.^[31][32] Oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers, and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes, and ponds 0.6%. Additionally, a minute amount of the Earth’s water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

Oceans

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several ‘separate’ oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean.^[33][34] This concept of a global ocean as a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography.^[35]

The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria: these divisions are (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays and other names. There are also salt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not interconnected with the World Ocean. Two notable examples of salt lakes are the Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake.

Lakes

Main article: Lake

A lake (from Latin word lacus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river.^[36][37] The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes is Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, which has lakes of ethane, most likely mixed with methane. It is not known if Titan’s lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan’s surface is carved by numerous river beds. Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last ice age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Ponds

Main article: Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar ponds designed to store thermal energy. Ponds and lakes are distinguished from streams via current speed. While currents in streams are easily observed, ponds and lakes possess thermally driven micro-currents and moderate wind driven currents. These features distinguish a pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such as stream pools and tide pools.

Rivers

A river is a natural watercourse,^[38] usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no general rule that defines what can be called a river. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example is Burn in Scotland and North-east England. Sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, due to vagueness in the language.^[39] A river is part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (i.e., from glaciers).

Streams

A stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. In the United States, a stream is classified as a watercourse less than 60 feet (18 metres) wide. Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge, and they serve as corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and waterways in general involves many branches of inter-disciplinary natural science and engineering, including hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, aquatic ecology, fish biology, riparian ecology, and others.

Ecosystems

Ecosystems are composed of a variety of biotic and abiotic components that function in an interrelated way.^[41] The structure and composition is determined by various environmental factors that are interrelated. Variations of these factors will initiate dynamic modifications to the ecosystem. Some of the more important components are soil, atmosphere, radiation from the sun, water, and living organisms.

Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms interact with every other element in their local environment. Eugene Odum, a founder of ecology, stated: «Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the «community») in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem.»^[42] Within the ecosystem, species are connected and dependent upon one another in the food chain, and exchange energy and matter between themselves as well as with their environment.^[43] The human ecosystem concept is based on the human/nature dichotomy and the idea that all species are ecologically dependent on each other, as well as with the abiotic constituents of their biotope.^[44]

A smaller unit of size is called a microecosystem. For example, a microsystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A macroecosystem might involve a whole ecoregion, with its drainage basin.^[45]

Wilderness

Wilderness is generally defined as areas that have not been significantly modified by human activity. Wilderness areas can be found in preserves, estates, farms, conservation preserves, ranches, national forests, national parks, and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches, or otherwise undeveloped areas. Wilderness areas and protected parks are considered important for the survival of certain species, ecological studies, conservation, and solitude. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity,^[46] and some ecologists consider wilderness areas to be an integral part of the Earth’s self-sustaining natural ecosystem (the biosphere). They may also preserve historic genetic traits and that they provide habitat for wild flora and fauna that may be difficult or impossible to recreate in zoos, arboretums, or laboratories.

Life

Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized by organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction.^[47] Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state of organisms.

Properties common to terrestrial organisms (plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria) are that they are cellular, carbon-and-water-based with complex organization, having a metabolism, a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. An entity with these properties is generally considered life. However, not every definition of life considers all of these properties to be essential. Human-made analogs of life may also be considered to be life.

The biosphere is the part of Earth’s outer shell—including land, surface rocks, water, air and the atmosphere—within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air). The entire Earth contains over 75 billion tons (150 trillion pounds or about 6.8×10¹³ kilograms) of biomass (life), which lives within various environments within the biosphere.^[48]

Over nine-tenths of the total biomass on Earth is plant life, on which animal life depends very heavily for its existence.^[49] More than 2 million species of plant and animal life have been identified to date,^[50] and estimates of the actual number of existing species range from several million to well over 50 million.^[51][52][53] The number of individual species of life is constantly in some degree of flux, with new species appearing and others ceasing to exist on a continual basis.^[54][55] The total number of species is in rapid decline.^[56][57][58]

Evolution

The origin of life on Earth is not well understood, but it is known to have occurred at least 3.5 billion years ago,^[61][62][63] during the hadean or archean eons on a primordial Earth that had a substantially different environment than is found at present.^[64] These life forms possessed the basic traits of self-replication and inheritable traits. Once life had appeared, the process of evolution by natural selection resulted in the development of ever-more diverse life forms.

Species that were unable to adapt to the changing environment and competition from other life forms became extinct. However, the fossil record retains evidence of many of these older species. Current fossil and DNA evidence shows that all existing species can trace a continual ancestry back to the first primitive life forms.^[64]

When basic forms of plant life developed the process of photosynthesis the sun’s energy could be harvested to create conditions which allowed for more complex life forms.^[65] The resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and gave rise to the ozone layer. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of yet more complex cells called eukaryotes.^[66] Cells within colonies became increasingly specialized, resulting in true multicellular organisms. With the ozone layer absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation, life colonized the surface of Earth.

Microbes

The first form of life to develop on the Earth were microbes, and they remained the only form of life until about a billion years ago when multi-cellular organisms began to appear.^[67] Microorganisms are single-celled organisms that are generally microscopic, and smaller than the human eye can see. They include Bacteria, Fungi, Archaea, and Protista.

These life forms are found in almost every location on the Earth where there is liquid water, including in the Earth’s interior.^[68]
Their reproduction is both rapid and profuse. The combination of a high mutation rate and a horizontal gene transfer^[69] ability makes them highly adaptable, and able to survive in new environments, including outer space.^[70] They form an essential part of the planetary ecosystem. However, some microorganisms are pathogenic and can post health risk to other organisms.

Plants and animals

Originally Aristotle divided all living things between plants, which generally do not move fast enough for humans to notice, and animals. In Linnaeus’ system, these became the kingdoms Vegetabilia (later Plantae) and Animalia. Since then, it has become clear that the Plantae as originally defined included several unrelated groups, and the fungi and several groups of algae were removed to new kingdoms. However, these are still often considered plants in many contexts. Bacterial life is sometimes included in flora,^[71][72] and some classifications use the term bacterial flora separately from plant flora.

Among the many ways of classifying plants are by regional floras, which, depending on the purpose of study, can also include fossil flora, remnants
of plant life from a previous era. People in many regions and countries take great pride in their individual arrays of characteristic flora, which can vary widely across the globe due to differences in climate and terrain.

Regional floras commonly are divided into categories such as native flora and agricultural and garden flora, the lastly mentioned of which are intentionally grown and cultivated. Some types of «native flora» actually have been introduced centuries ago by people migrating from one region or continent to another, and become an integral part of the native, or natural flora of the place to which they were introduced. This is an example of how human interaction with nature can blur the boundary of what is considered nature.

Another category of plant has historically been carved out for weeds. Though the term has fallen into disfavor among botanists as a formal way to categorize «useless» plants, the informal use of the word «weeds» to describe those plants that are deemed worthy of elimination is illustrative of the general tendency of people and societies to seek to alter or shape the course of nature. Similarly, animals are often categorized in ways such as domestic, farm animals, wild animals, pests, etc. according to their relationship to human life.

Animals as a category have several characteristics that generally set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and usually multicellular (although see Myxozoa), which separates them from bacteria, archaea, and most protists. They are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls.

With a few exceptions—most notably the two phyla consisting of sponges and placozoans—animals have bodies that are differentiated into tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber. The eukaryotic cells possessed by all animals are surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules, a framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized during development and maturation, and which supports the complex anatomy required for mobility.

Human interrelationship

Human impact

Although humans comprise only a minuscule proportion of the total living biomass on Earth, the human effect on nature is disproportionately large. Because of the extent of human influence, the boundaries between what humans regard as nature and «made environments» is not clear cut except at the extremes. Even at the extremes, the amount of natural environment that is free of discernible human influence is diminishing at an increasingly rapid pace. A 2020 study published in Nature found that anthropogenic mass (human-made materials) outweighs all living biomass on earth, with plastic alone exceeding the mass of all land and marine animals combined.^[73] And according to a 2021 study published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, only about 3% of the planet’s terrestrial surface is ecologically and faunally intact, with a low human footprint and healthy populations of native animal species.^[74][75]

The development of technology by the human race has allowed the greater exploitation of natural resources and has helped to alleviate some of the risk from natural hazards. In spite of this progress, however, the fate of human civilization remains closely linked to changes in the environment. There exists a highly complex feedback loop between the use of advanced technology and changes to the environment that are only slowly becoming understood.^[76] Man-made threats to the Earth’s natural environment include pollution, deforestation, and disasters such as oil spills. Humans have contributed to the extinction of many plants and animals,^[77] with roughly 1 million species threatened with extinction within decades.^[78] The loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions over the last half century have impacted the extent that nature can contribute to human quality of life,^[79] and continued declines could pose a major threat to the continued existence of human civilization, unless a rapid course correction is made.^[80] The value of natural resources to human society is not reflected in market prices because mostly natural resources are available free of charge. This distorts market pricing of natural resources and at the same time leads to underinvestment in our natural assets. The annual global cost of public subsidies that damage nature is conservatively estimated at $4–$6 trillion (million million). Institutional protections of these natural goods, such as the oceans and rainforests, are lacking. Governments have not prevented these economic externalities.^[81][82]

Humans employ nature for both leisure and economic activities. The acquisition of natural resources for industrial use remains a sizable component of the world’s economic system.^[83][84] Some activities, such as hunting and fishing, are used for both sustenance and leisure, often by different people. Agriculture was first adopted around the 9th millennium BCE. Ranging from food production to energy, nature influences economic wealth.

Although early humans gathered uncultivated plant materials for food and employed the medicinal properties of vegetation for healing,^[85] most modern human use of plants is through agriculture. The clearance of large tracts of land for crop growth has led to a significant reduction in the amount available of forestation and wetlands, resulting in the loss of habitat for many plant and animal species as well as increased erosion.^[86]

Aesthetics and beauty

Beauty in nature has historically been a prevalent theme in art and books, filling large sections of libraries and bookstores. That nature has been depicted and celebrated by so much art, photography, poetry, and other literature shows the strength with which many people associate nature and beauty. Reasons why this association exists, and what the association consists of, are studied by the branch of philosophy called aesthetics. Beyond certain basic characteristics that many philosophers agree about to explain what is seen as beautiful, the opinions are virtually endless.^[87] Nature and wildness have been important subjects in various eras of world history. An early tradition of landscape art began in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The tradition of representing nature as it is became one of the aims of Chinese painting and was a significant influence in Asian art.

Although natural wonders are celebrated in the Psalms and the Book of Job, wilderness portrayals in art became more prevalent in the 1800s, especially in the works of the Romantic movement. British artists John Constable and J. M. W. Turner turned their attention to capturing the beauty of the natural world in their paintings. Before that, paintings had been primarily of religious scenes or of human beings. William Wordsworth’s poetry described the wonder of the natural world, which had formerly been viewed as a threatening place. Increasingly the valuing of nature became an aspect of Western culture.^[88] This artistic movement also coincided with the Transcendentalist movement in the Western world. A common classical idea of beautiful art involves the word mimesis, the imitation of nature. Also in the realm of ideas about beauty in nature is that the perfect is implied through perfect mathematical forms and more generally by patterns in nature. As David Rothenburg writes, «The beautiful is the root of science and the goal of art, the highest possibility that humanity can ever hope to see».^[89]: 281

Matter and energy

Some fields of science see nature as matter in motion, obeying certain laws of nature which science seeks to understand. For this reason the most fundamental science is generally understood to be «physics»—the name for which is still recognizable as meaning that it is the «study of nature«.

Matter is commonly defined as the substance of which physical objects are composed. It constitutes the observable universe. The visible components of the universe are now believed to compose only 4.9 percent of the total mass. The remainder is believed to consist of 26.8 percent cold dark matter and 68.3 percent dark energy.^[90] The exact arrangement of these components is still unknown and is under intensive investigation by physicists.

The behaviour of matter and energy throughout the observable universe appears to follow well-defined physical laws. These laws have been employed to produce cosmological models that successfully explain the structure and the evolution of the universe we can observe. The mathematical expressions of the laws of physics employ a set of twenty physical constants^[91] that appear to be static across the observable universe.^[92] The values of these constants have been carefully measured, but the reason for their specific values remains a mystery.

Beyond Earth

Outer space, also simply called space, refers to the relatively empty regions of the Universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace (and terrestrial locations). There is no discrete boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space, as the atmosphere gradually attenuates with increasing altitude. Outer space within the Solar System is called interplanetary space, which passes over into interstellar space at what is known as the heliopause.

Outer space is sparsely filled with several dozen types of organic molecules discovered to date by microwave spectroscopy, blackbody radiation left over from the Big Bang and the origin of the universe, and cosmic rays, which include ionized atomic nuclei and various subatomic particles. There is also some gas, plasma and dust, and small meteors. Additionally, there are signs of human life in outer space today, such as material left over from previous crewed and uncrewed launches which are a potential hazard to spacecraft. Some of this debris re-enters the atmosphere periodically.

Although Earth is the only body within the Solar System known to support life, evidence suggests that in the distant past the planet Mars possessed bodies of liquid water on the surface.^[93] For a brief period in Mars’ history, it may have also been capable of forming life. At present though, most of the water remaining on Mars is frozen.
If life exists at all on Mars, it is most likely to be located underground where liquid water can still exist.^[94]

Conditions on the other terrestrial planets, Mercury and Venus, appear to be too harsh to support life as we know it. But it has been conjectured that Europa, the fourth-largest moon of Jupiter, may possess a sub-surface ocean of liquid water and could potentially host life.^[95]

Astronomers have started to discover extrasolar Earth analogs – planets that lie in the habitable zone of space surrounding a star, and therefore could possibly host life as we know it.^[96]

See also

Media:

• National Wildlife, a publication of the National Wildlife Federation
• Natural History, by Pliny the Elder
• Natural World (TV series)
• Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nature, a prominent scientific journal
• Nature (TV series)
• The World We Live In (Life magazine)

Organizations:

• Nature Detectives
• The Nature Conservancy

Philosophy:

• Balance of nature (biological fallacy), a discredited concept of natural equilibrium in predator–prey dynamics
• Mother Nature
• Naturalism, any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism that do not distinguish the supernatural from nature;^[97] this includes the methodological naturalism of natural science, which makes the methodological assumption that observable events in nature are explained only by natural causes, without assuming either the existence or non-existence of the supernatural
• Nature (philosophy)

Notes and references

Further reading

• Droz, Layna; et al. (May 31, 2022). «Exploring the diversity of conceptualizations of nature in East and South-East Asia». Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 9 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1057/s41599-022-01186-5. ISSN 2662-9992.
• Ducarme, Frédéric; Couvet, Denis (2020). «What does ‘nature’ mean?». Palgrave Communications. Springer Nature. 6 (14). doi:10.1057/s41599-020-0390-y.
• Emerson, Ralph W. (1836). Nature. Boston: James Munroe & Co.
• Farber, Paul Lawrence (2000), Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Tradition from Linnaeus to E. O. Wilson. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
• Naddaf, Gerard (2006). The Greek Concept of Nature. Albany: SUNY Press.
• Piccolo, John J.; Taylor, Bron; Washington, Haydn; Kopnina, Helen; Gray, Joe; Alberro, Heather; Orlikowska, Ewa (2022). ««Nature’s contributions to people» and peoples’ moral obligations to nature». Biological Conservation. 270: 109572. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109572. S2CID 248769087.
• Worster, D. (1994). Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

External links

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (iucnredlist.org)
• Ducarme, Frédéric (January 3, 2021). «What is nature?». Encyclopedia of the Environment.

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• natuer (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English nature, natur, from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra (“birth, origin, natural constitution or quality”), future participle from perfect passive participle (g)natus (“born”), from deponent verb (g)nasci (“to be born, originate”) + future participle suffix -urus. Displaced native Old English ġecynd. More at kind.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nā’-chə(r) IPA^(key): /ˈneɪ.tʃə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈneɪ.t͡ʃɚ/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈnɛː.tʃɐ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈnæɪ̯.tʃə/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈnæe.tʃə/, [ˈnæetʃə], [ˈnɐetʃə]
• Rhymes: -eɪtʃə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: na‧ture

Noun[edit]

nature (countable and uncountable, plural natures)

1. (uncountable, often capitalized) The way things are, the totality of all things in the physical universe and their order, especially the physical world in contrast to spiritual realms and flora and fauna as distinct from human conventions, art, and technology.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     I oft admire
     How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
     Such disproportions.

   • 1808, Dugald Stewart, Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, pp. 315–6:

     In the works of nature we find, in many instances, beauty and sublimity involved among circumstances, which are either indifferent, or which obstruct the general effect: and it is only by a train of experiments, that we can separate those circumstances from the rest… Accordingly, the inexperienced artist, when he copies nature, will copy her servilely… and the beauties of his performances will be encumbered with a number of superfluous or disagreeable concomitants. Experience and observation alone can enable him to make this determination: to exhibit the principles of beauty pure and unadulterated, and to form a creation of his own, more faultless, than ever fell under the observation of his senses.

   • 1816, Matthew Harris Jouett, Notes… on Painting with Gilbert Stuart Esqr:

     Most persons in striving after effect lose the likeness when they should go together to produce a good effect you must copy Nature: leave Nature for an imaginary effect & you lose all. Nature as Nature cannot be exceeded, and as your object it [is] to copy Nature twere the hight of folly to look at any thing else to produce that copy.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, [https://archive.org/details/scarletletterrom01hawt/page/186/mode/2up 186–7/mode/1up page 186–7]:

     Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena, that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source… But what shall we say, when an individual discovers a revelation, addressed to himself alone, on the same vast sheet of record! In such a case, it could only be the symptom of a highly disordered mental state, when a man, rendered morbidly self-contemplative by long, intense, and secret pain, had extended his egotism over the whole expanse of nature, until the firmament itself should appear no more than a fitting page for his soul’s history and fate.

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying

     Nature has good intentions, of course, but, as Aristotle once said, she cannot carry them out. When I look at a landscape I cannot help seeing all its defects.

   • 1895, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, p. 15:

     Nature’s logic was too horrid for him to care for.

   • 1918, Constance Garnett translating Fyodor Dostoevsky as «Notes from Underground» in White Nights and Other Stories, pp. 58–9:

     …they will shout at you, it is no use protesting: it is a case of twice two makes four! Nature does not ask your permission, she has nothing to do with your wishes, and whether you like her laws or dislike them, you are bound to accept her as she is, and consequently all her conclusions. A wall, you see, is a wall… Merciful Heavens! but what do I care for the laws of nature and arithmetic, when, for some reason I dislike those laws and the fact that twice two makes four? Of course I cannot break through the wall by battering my head against it if I really have not the strength to knock it down, but I am not going to be reconciled to it simply because it is a stone wall and I have not the strength.

   • 1928, Christopher Dawson, The Age of the Gods, p. 49:

     Man was entirely at the mercy of nature—a mere scavenger who eked out a miserable existence as a food-gatherer and an eater of shell-fish.

   • 2006 Oct. 1, Dennis Lehane, «Refugees», The Wire, 00:34:06:

     Freamon: She too young for you, boy… They get younger, William. Skinnier too. You don’t… ‘s just the nature of things. Age is age, fat is fat, nature’s nature.
     Moreland: Pitiful.
     Freamon: Pitiless. Nature don’t care. Nature just is.

   • 2012 January 1, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:

     As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

   • 2015, Alisa Luxenberg, «Printing Plants: The Technology of Nature Printing in Eighteenth-Century Spain» in Art, Technology, and Nature, p. 140:

     Gómez Ortega… explicitly ordered them to study only fresh plants, in situ, to draw every part, and ‘to copy nature exactly without presuming to correct it or decorate it as some draughtsmen are used to doing, adding colours and ornaments drawn from their imagination’.

   • 2017 Sept. 8, Michael Grunwald, «A Requiem for Florida» in Politico Magazine:

     As Hurricane Irma prepares to strike, it’s worth remembering that Mother Nature never intended us to live here.

   • 2021, Olof G. Lidin, From Taoism to Einstein, p. 196:

     The tao of Lao Tzu was a cosmic tao, inner and unwritten, a tao of Nature, while the tao of Confucius was moral and written.

   Nature doesn’t lie.

   Tectonic activity is part of nature, so there’s no way to stop earthquakes.

2. The particular way someone or something is, especially
   1. The essential or innate characteristics of a person or thing which will always tend to manifest, especially in contrast to specific contexts, reason, religious duty, upbringing, and personal pretense or effort.

      • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, scene iii], page iii:

        Vliss.: … One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,
        That all with one consent praise new-borne gaudes,
        Though they are made and moulded of things past,
        And goe to dust, that is a little guilt,
        More laud then guilt ore-dusted.

      • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

        Lady. …Glamys thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
        What thou art promis’d: yet doe I feare thy Nature,
        It is too full o’th’ Milke of humane kindnesse,
        To catch the neerest way.

      • 1641, David Fergusson, Scottish proverbs, D4:

        Nature passes norture.

      • 1709, Robert Steele, Tatler, No. 93:

        Men may change their Climate, but they cannot their Nature.

      • 1834, Criminal Law Commission, «First Report… on Criminal Law», p. 21:

        Domestic animals of a base nature and not fit for food, are not the subjects of theft. This rule includes dogs and cats.

      • 1848, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold, Vol. III, p. 375:

        His own better nature which… was magnanimous and heroic, moved and won him.

      • 1874, John Henry Blunt, Dictionary of Sects…, p. 332:

        The Monophysites held that the two Natures were so united, that although the ‘One Christ’ was partly Human and partly Divine, His two Natures became by their union only one Nature.

      • 1869, Horatio Alger Jr., Mark the Match Boy, Ch. 16:

        Mark hardly knew whether to believe this or not. He already began to suspect that Roswell was something of a humbug, and though it was not in his nature to form a causeless dislike, he certainly did not feel disposed to like Roswell.

      • 1874, Francis Galton, English Men of Science, p. 12:

        The phrase ‘nature and nurture’ is a convenient jingle of words, for it separates under two distinct heads the innumerable elements of which personality is composed.

      • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch. 1:

        Being by nature of a cheerful disposition, the symptom did not surprise his servant, late private of the same famous regiment, who was laying breakfast in an adjoining room.

      • 1926, Richard Henry Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, p. 20:

        The contrast between nature and grace, between human appetites and interests and religion, is not absolute, but relative.

      • 1961, Barry Crump, Hang on a Minute Mate, p. 147:

        Couples bitching at each other is human nature.

      • 2006 Oct. 1, Dennis Lehane, «Refugees», The Wire, 00:34:06:

        Freamon: She too young for you, boy… They get younger, William. Skinnier too. You don’t… ‘s just the nature of things. Age is age, fat is fat, nature’s nature.
        Moreland: Pitiful.
        Freamon: Pitiless. Nature don’t care. Nature just is.

      • 2015 July 10, Evan Nesterak, «The End of Nature versus Nurture» in The Psych Report:

        Unlike the static conception of nature or nurture, epigenic research demonstrates how genes and environments continuously interact to produce characteristics throughout a lifetime.

      It’s not in my nature to steal.

      You can’t help feeling that way. It’s human nature.

   2. The distinguishing characteristic of a person or thing, understood as its general class, sort, type, etc.
      • 1626 July 12, Charles I, Instructions:

        For the French, it was impossible for them to serve her in that nature.

      • A dispute of this nature caused mischief.

      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

        Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

      • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, p. 56:

        And yet, though you could not actually hear what the man was saying, you could not be in any doubt about its general nature.

      • 1988 April, Music and Letters, Vol. 69, p. 463:

        The extent and nature of Bach’s influence on Haydn is now due for further reassessment.

      What was the nature of your relationship with the deceased?

      The best medium might be petroleum, liquified gas, or something of that nature.

   3. (UK military, obsolete) Synonym of caliber: the class of a gun.
      • 1828, James Morton Spearman, The British Gunner, p. 130:

        …One Hundred of each Nature of Case-Shot…

      • 1879, War Office, Manual of Siege and Garrison Artillery Exercises, p. 37:

        B.L. cartridges have lubricators choked inside the cartridges of 40-pr. and lower natures.

3. The vital functions or strength of someone or something, especially (now dialect) as requiring nourishment or careful maintenance or (medicine) as a force of regeneration without special treatment.
   • 1592, William West, Symbolaeography, Pt. I, §102b:

     Any such corrasiue, sharpe or eager medicine… as the said H. shal think his nature is vnable to suffer…

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     For nature creſſant does not grovve alone / In thevvs and bulkes, but as this temple vvaxes, / The invvard ſervice of the minde and ſoule / Grovves vvide vvithal, […]

     For a human being’s vital functions, increasing, do not grow alone / In physical development and bulk, but as this «temple» [i.e., the body] waxes, / The inward operation of the mind and soul / Grows wide with them.

   • 1807, Zebulon Pike, An Account of Expeditions to the Source of the Mississippi…, Vol. II, p. 182:

     I returned hungry… and had only snow to supply the calls of nature.

   • 1820, Thomas Tredgold, Elementary Principles of Carpentry, p. 165:

     The timber… is found to be brittle and effete; or, to use the workman’s expression, ‘its nature is gone’.

   • 1826 April 1, Lancet, p. 32:

     Nature is unable to repair the extensive injury.

   • 1843, George Henry Borrow, The Bible in Spain, Vol. III, p. 47:

     The prison allowance will not support nature.

   • 1895, T. Pinnock, Tom Brown’s Black Country Annual…:

     My iron’s just comin’ to natur’.

   • 1984, William N. Herbert, Sterts & Stobies, p. 30:

     Hungry-groond, ground credited to be so much enchanted that a person passing over it would faint if they did not use something to support nature.

4. A requirement or powerful impulse of the body’s physical form, especially
   1. The need to urinate and defecate.
      • 1701, William Wotton, The History of Rome, p. 328:

        He withdrew from the Company to ease Nature.

      • 1965, Wole Soyinka, Road, p. 26:

        The women tell you to stop because they’s feeling the call of nature. If you don’t stop they pee in your lorry.

   2. (now chiefly African-American Vernacular) Sexual desire.
      • 1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Draft, Canto XV, St. xlix & lii:

        She marvelled «What he saw in such a baby
        «As that prim, silent, cold Aurora Raby?»
        …Why Adeline had this slight prejudice
        …For me appears a question far too nice,
        Since Adeline was liberal by Nature;
        But Nature’s Nature, and has more caprices
        Than I have time, or will to take to pieces…

      • 1941, William Alexander Percy, Lanterns on the Levee, p. 305:

        He had placed a spell on her by means of a cunjer bag… Its effect was to rob her of connubial allure—in her words, ‘it stole her nature’.

      • 1974 July 25, Daily Telegraph, p. 3:

        Every time I felt nature for her, she would rub something on her hands and face to take away my nature.

      • 2006 Oct. 1, Dennis Lehane, «Refugees», The Wire, 00:34:06:

        Freamon: She too young for you, boy… They get younger, William. Skinnier too. You don’t… ‘s just the nature of things. Age is age, fat is fat, nature’s nature.
        Moreland: Pitiful.
        Freamon: Pitiless. Nature don’t care. Nature just is.

   3. (now chiefly UK regional and African-American Vernacular) Spontaneous love, affection, or reverence, especially between parent and child.

      • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

        Lady. … Come you Spirits,
        That tend on mortall thoughts, vnsex me here,
        …make thick my blood,
        Stop vp th’accesse, and passage to Remorse,
        That no compunctious visitings of Nature
        Shake my fell purpose…

      • 1712, Alexander Pope, «The First Book of Statius’s Thebais» in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations, p. 25:

        Have we not seen (the blood of Laius shed)
        The murd’ring son ascend his parent’s bed,
        Thro’ violated Nature force his way,
        And stain the sacred womb where once he lay?

      • 1749, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Vol. I, p. 136:

        She had no nature, nor indeed any passion but that of money.

      • 1937, Robinson Jeffers, «Thurso’s Landing» in Selected Poetry, p. 312:

        …I could bear much. I’d not move nor scream
        While you wrote the red stripes:
        But there’s no nature in you…

5. (now rare) A product of the body’s physical form, especially semen and vaginal fluids, menstrual fluid, and (obsolete) feces.
   • a. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, Parson’s Tale, Canterbury Tales:

     …vnkyndely synne by which man or womman shedeth hire nature in manere or in place ther as a child may nat be conceyued…

   • c. 1938, spell cited in Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo Conjuration Witchcraft Rootwork, Vol. I, p. 534:

     If a man want to break his wife from some man, he steals this dishcloth… an’ he ketches her nachure in this dishcloth…

6. (now rare) A part of the body’s physical form, especially (obsolete) the female genitalia.
   • 1743 May, William Ellis, Modern Husbandman, No. xiv, p. 137:

     … offer her the Horse, and… wash her Nature with cold Water …

Usage notes[edit]

In its primary sense as the material world, its inhabitants, and their order, nature is frequently personified in English conversation and literature, primarily as a cold and indifferent entity or as a wise and loving nurturer (see Mother Nature). In its sense as the essential characteristics of humanity, man’s present nature is usually taken in Christian thought as debased by original sin or inherent frailty but amenable to purification through grace; English consideration of human nature frequently continues to maintain a similar focus on resigned acceptance of its failings and distinctions between better/higher and worse/lower natures.

Synonyms[edit]

• (innate characteristics): See Thesaurus:essence

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

nature (third-person singular simple present natures, present participle naturing, simple past and past participle natured)

1. (obsolete) To endow with natural qualities.

Further reading[edit]

• “nature, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2021.
• nature at OneLook Dictionary Search
• nature in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• «nature» in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 219.
• “nature”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• nature in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams[edit]

• aunter, natuer, tea urn, tea-urn, unrate

Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

nature

1. naturally

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Middle French nature, Old French nature, borrowed from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /na.tyʁ/

Noun[edit]

nature f (plural natures)

1. nature
2. (grammar) lexical category

Derived terms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

nature (plural natures)

1. plain, unseasoned

   Une brioche nature ou sucrée ?

   A plain or sweet brioche?

   File-moi un yaourt nature s’il te plait.

   Give me a plain yogurt, please.

2. condomless, bareback, raw dog, natural (see Thesaurus:condomless)

   Une fellation nature.

   A natural blowjob.

Further reading[edit]

• “nature”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

nature f

1. plural of natura

Adjective[edit]

nature (invariable)

1. natural

Anagrams[edit]

• Arunte, neutra, rutena, untare, unterà

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /naːˈtuː.re/, [näːˈt̪uːrɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /naˈtu.re/, [näˈt̪uːre]

Participle[edit]

nātūre

1. vocative masculine singular of nātūrus

Middle Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra.

Noun[edit]

nature f

1. nature, force of nature
2. laws of nature, natural order
3. nature, innate characteristics
4. kind, sort
5. origin
6. sexual fertility, sex drive

Inflection[edit]

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants[edit]

• Dutch: natuur
• Limburgish: netuur, netuuer

Further reading[edit]

• “nature”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “nature”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• natur, natour, nateure, nater

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /naːˈtiu̯r/

Noun[edit]

nature (plural natures)

1. the Universe, existence, creation
2. nature, the natural world
3. natural abilities
4. natural inevitability, nature (as opposed to nurture)
5. natural morals, natural law
6. natural needs or requirements
7. nature, state, condition
8. species, kind, type
9. Nature (allegory)

[edit]

• natural

Descendants[edit]

• English: nature
• Scots: natur, naitur, naeter, nature
• Yola: naatur
• → Welsh: natur

References[edit]

• “nātūr(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old French nature, borrowed from Latin nātūra.

Noun[edit]

nature f (plural natures)

1. nature

Descendants[edit]

• French: nature

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Noun[edit]

nature f (oblique plural natures, nominative singular nature, nominative plural natures)

1. nature (natural world; nonhuman world)

   • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     De cesti tesmoingne Nature,
     Qu’onques si bele creature
     Ne fu veüe an tot le monde.

     Nature can testify
     That never such a beautiful creature
     Was seen in the whole world

2. nature (character; qualities)

Descendants[edit]

• Middle French: nature
  • French: nature
• → Middle Dutch: nature
  • Dutch: natuur
  • Limburgish: netuur, netuuer
• → Middle English: nature, natur, natour, nateure, nater
  • English: nature
  • Scots: natur, naitur, naeter, nature
  • Yola: naatur
  • → Welsh: natur

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or “essential qualities, innate disposition”, and in ancient times, literally meant “birth”.^[1] Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord.^[2][3] The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage continued during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Современное английское слово nature — существительное. Оно переводится на русский язык как «природа; характер, сущность».

Это слово появилось в английском языке в XIII в. в значении «восстановительные силы тела, процессы в теле». Оно происходит от старофранцузского nature, «природа; характер, сущность». Последнее же восходит к латинскому natura, «ход вещей; качество; вселенная». Тем не менее буквально оно означает «рождение». Это существительное было образовано от причастия natus, «рождённый», а оно — от глагола nasci, «рождаться». Все они восходят к праиндоевропейскому корню *gene-, «рождать».

К середине XIV в. у nature развилось значение «силы или процессы материального мира; то, что производит живые существа и поддерживает порядок в мире».

Затем, в конце XIV в., появились ещё два:

• Творение, вселенная;
• Наследственность, врождённая предрасположенность.

Более привычные нам значения «материальный мир за пределами человеческой цивилизации или общества; первоначальное, дикое, необузданное состояние» возникли лишь в 1660-е годы.

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