natural
natural definition
natu·ral (nac̸h′ər əl, nac̸h′rəl)
adjective
- of or arising from nature; in accordance with what is found or expected in nature
- produced or existing in nature; not artificial or manufactured
- dealing with nature as an object of study a natural science
- in a state provided by nature, without man-made changes; wild; uncultivated
- of the real or physical world as distinguished from a spiritual, intellectual, or imaginary world
- present by virtue of nature; innate; not acquired
- having certain qualities, abilities, etc. innately a natural comedian
- innately felt to be right; based on instinctive moral feeling natural rights
- true to nature; lifelike a natural likeness
- normal or usual; in the ordinary course of events a natural outcome
- customarily expected or accepted a natural courtesy
- free from affectation or artificiality; at ease a natural smile
- without a legal relationship; specif.,
- illegitimate a natural child
- relating biologically rather than by adoption natural parents
- with little or no processing, artificial ingredients or preservatives natural food
- off-white, light-beige, etc.
- resulting from age, disease, etc. rather than an accident, violence, etc. a natural death, death from natural causes
- Biol. designating or of a system of classification based on complete structure and characteristics
- Math.
- designating or of an integer or any number referred to 1 as the base
- designating or of an actual number as distinguished from its logarithm a natural sine, cosine, etc.
- Music
- without flats or sharps, as the key of C major
- modified in pitch by the sign (♮)
- neither sharped nor flatted
Etymology: OFr < L naturalis, by birth, according to nature
noun
- a person without normal intelligence; fool; idiot
- Informal a person who is or seems to be naturally expert
- ☆ Informal a thing that is, or promises to be, immediately successful
- ☆ Informal a winning roll of 7 or 11 on a first throw in craps
- Music
- a sign (♮) used to remove the effect of a preceding sharp or flat within the measure in which it occursin full, natural sign
- the note so changed
- a white key on a piano
- a sign (♮) used to remove the effect of a preceding sharp or flat within the measure in which it occurs
Related Forms:
- naturalness nat′u·ral·ness noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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