Nature

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: na=ture

CIDE DICTIONARY

Nature, n. [F., fr. L. natura, fr. natus born, produced, p. p. of nasci to be born. See Nation.].

•  The existing system of things; the universe of matter, energy, time and space; the physical world; all of creation. Contrasted with the world of mankind, with its mental and social phenomena.  [1913 Webster]

  "But looks through nature up to nature's God."  [1913 Webster]

  "When, in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bonds which have connected them with another, ans to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal Station which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to the Separation."

  "Nature has caprices which art can not imitate."  [1913 Webster]
•  The personified sum and order of causes and effects; the powers which produce existing phenomena, whether in the total or in detail; the agencies which carry on the processes of creation or of being; -- often conceived of as a single and separate entity, embodying the total of all finite agencies and forces as disconnected from a creating or ordering intelligence; as, produced by nature; the forces of nature.  [1913 Webster]

  "I oft admire
  How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
  Such disproportions."  [1913 Webster]
•  The established or regular course of things; usual order of events; connection of cause and effect.  [1913 Webster]
•  Conformity to that which is natural, as distinguished from that which is artificial, or forced, or remote from actual experience.  [1913 Webster]

  "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."  [1913 Webster]
•  The sum of qualities and attributes which make a person or thing what it is, as distinct from others; native character; inherent or essential qualities or attributes; peculiar constitution or quality of being.  [1913 Webster]

  "Thou, therefore, whom thou only canst redeem,
  Their nature also to thy nature join,
  And be thyself man among men on earth."  [1913 Webster]
•  Kind, sort; character; quality.  [1913 Webster]

  "A dispute of this nature caused mischief."  [1913 Webster]
•  Physical constitution or existence; the vital powers; the natural life.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "Oppressed nature sleeps."  [1913 Webster]
•  Natural affection or reverence.  [1913 Webster]

  "Have we not seen
  The murdering son ascend his parent's bed,
  Through violated nature force his way?"  [1913 Webster]
•  Constitution or quality of mind or character.  [1913 Webster]

  "A born devil, on whose nature
  Nurture can never stick."  [1913 Webster]

  "That reverence which is due to a superior nature."  [1913 Webster]

Good nature, Ill nature. see under Good and Ill. -- In a state of nature. (a) Naked as when born; nude. (b) In a condition of sin; unregenerate. (c) Untamed; uncivilized. -- Nature printing, a process of printing from metallic or other plates which have received an impression, as by heavy pressure, of an object such as a leaf, lace, or the like. -- Nature worship, the worship of the personified powers of nature. -- To pay the debt of nature, to die.

Nature, v. t. 

 To endow with natural qualities.  [1913 Webster]
"He [God] which natureth every kind."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Nature, n.
1 a thing's or person's innate or essential qualities or character (not in their nature to be cruel; is the nature of iron to rust).
2 (often Nature) a the physical power causing all the phenomena of the material world (Nature is the best physician). b these phenomena, including plants, animals, landscape, etc. (nature gives him comfort).
3 a kind, sort, or class (things of this nature).
4 = human nature.
5 a a specified element of human character (the rational nature; our animal nature). b a person of a specified character (even strong natures quail).
6 a an uncultivated or wild area, condition, community, etc. b the countryside, esp. when picturesque.
7 inherent impulses determining character or action.
8 heredity as an influence on or determinant of personality (opp. NURTURE).
9 a living thing's vital functions or needs (such a diet will not support nature).

Idiom

against nature unnatural; immoral. against (or contrary to) nature miraculous; miraculously. back to nature returning to a pre-civilized or natural state. by nature innately. from nature Art using natural objects as models. human nature general human characteristics, feelings, etc. in nature
1 actually existing.
2 anywhere; at all. in (or of) the nature of characteristically resembling or belonging to the class of (the answer was in the nature of an excuse).
in a state of nature
1 in an uncivilized or uncultivated state.
2 totally naked.
3 in an unregenerate state. law of nature = natural law 2. nature cure = NATUROPATHY. nature-printing a method of producing a print of leaves etc. by pressing them on a prepared plate. nature reserve a tract of land managed so as to preserve its flora, fauna, physical features, etc. nature study the practical study of plant and animal life etc. as a school subject. nature trail a signposted path through the countryside designed to draw attention to natural phenomena.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L natura f. nasci nat- be born

THESAURUS

Nature

Copernican universe, Einsteinian universe, Newtonian universe, Ptolemaic universe, air, all, all being, all creation, allness, anatomy, animus, aptitude, aroma, artlessness, atom, atomic particles, attribute, attributes, badge, being, bent, bias, blood, body-build, brand, breed, brute matter, building block, by nature, cachet, cast, category, character, characteristic, characteristics, chemical element, clan, class, color, complexion, component, composition, configuration, conformation, constituent, constituents, constitution, cosmos, countryside, crasis, created nature, created universe, creation, cut, denomination, description, designation, dharma, diathesis, differentia, differential, disposition, distinctive feature, earmark, earth, eccentricity, element, elementary particle, elementary unit, environment, essence, essentiality, ethos, everything that is, expanding universe, feather, feature, features, fiber, figure, fire, flavor, form, frame, framework, fundamental particle, genius, genre, genuineness, genus, grain, gust, habit, hallmark, hue, humor, humors, hyle, hypostasis, identity, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, ilk, impress, impression, inartificiality, inclination, index, individualism, individuality, intactness, keynote, kidney, kin, kind, label, leaning, line, lineaments, lot, macrocosm, macrocosmos, make, makeup, manner, mannerism, mark, marking, material, material world, materiality, matter, megacosm, mental set, metagalaxy, mettle, mind, mind-set, mold, molecule, monad, mould, natural man, natural state, natural world, naturalism, naturally, naturalness, number, odor, omneity, particularity, peculiarity, personality, persuasion, phylum, physical world, physique, plenum, predilection, predisposition, preference, primitiveness, pristineness, proclivity, propensity, properties, property, pulsating universe, quality, quirk, race, savor, scenery, seal, set, shape, sidereal universe, simplicity, singularity, slant, smack, somatotype, sort, specialty, species, spirit, stamp, state of nature, steady-state universe, strain, streak, stripe, structure, stuff, style, substance, substratum, suchness, sum of things, system, taint, tang, taste, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, texture, the four elements, the like of, the likes of, token, tone, totality, totality of being, trait, tribe, trick, turn, turn of mind, twist, type, unaffectation, unaffectedness, unartificialness, unassumingness, undisguise, unit of being, universe, unpretentiousness, unspoiledness, variety, vein, virginity, warp, water, way, whole wide world, wide world, wildness, world, world without end

ROGET THESAURUS

Nature

Intrinsicality

N intrinsicality, inbeing, inherence, inhesion, subjectiveness, ego, egohood, essence, noumenon, essentialness, essential part, quintessence, incarnation, quiddity, gist, pith, marrow, core, sap, lifeblood, backbone, heart, soul, important part, principle, nature, constitution, character, type, quality, crasis, diathesis, habit, temper, temperament, spirit, humor, grain, disposition, endowment, capacity, capability, moods, declensions, features, aspects, peculiarities, idiosyncrasy, oddity, idiocrasy, diagnostics, derived from within, subjective, intrinsic, intrinsical, fundamental, normal, implanted, inherent, essential, natural, innate, inborn, inbred, ingrained, inwrought, coeval with birth, genetous, haematobious, syngenic, radical, incarnate, thoroughbred, hereditary, inherited, immanent, congenital, congenite, connate, running in the blood, ingenerate, ingenite, indigenous, in the grain, bred in the bone, instinctive, inward, internal, to the manner born, virtual, characteristic, invariable, incurable, incorrigible, ineradicable, fixed, intrinsically, at bottom, in the main, in effect, practically, virtually, substantially, au fond, fairly, character is higher than intellect, come give us a taste of your quality, magnos homines virtute metimur non fortuna, non numero haec judicantur sed pondere, vital spark of heavenly flame.

Nonpreparation

N nonpreparation, non-preparation, absence of preparation, want of preparation, inculture, inconcoction, improvidence, immaturity, crudity, rawness, abortion, disqualification, nature, state of nature, virgin soil, unweeded garden, neglect, rough copy, germ, raw material, improvisation, unprepared (prepare), without preparation, incomplete, rudimental, embryonic, abortive, immature, unripe, kachcha, raw, green, crude, coarse, rough cast, rough hewn, in the rough, unhewn, unformed, unfashioned, unwrought, unlabored, unblown, uncooked, unboiled, unconcocted, unpolished, unhatched, unfledged, unnurtured, unlicked, untaught, uneducated, uncultivated, untrained, untutored, undrilled, unexercised, deckle- edged, precocious, premature, undigested, indigested, unmellowed, unseasoned, unleavened, unrehearsed, unscripted, extemporaneous, improvised, spontaneous, ad lib, ad libitem, fallow, unsown, untilled, natural, in a state of nature, undressed, in dishabille, en deshabille, unqualified, disqualified, unfitted, ill-digested, unbegun, unready, unarranged, unorganized, unfurnished, unprovided, unequipped, untrimmed, out of gear, out of order, dismantled, shiftless, improvident, unthrifty, thriftless, thoughtless, unguarded, happy-go- lucky, caught napping, unpremeditated, extempore.

Conformity

N conformity, conformance, observance, habituation, naturalization, conventionality, agreement, example, instance, specimen, sample, quotation, exemplification, illustration, case in point, object lesson, elucidation, standard, model, pattern, rule, nature, principle, law, order of things, normal state, natural state, ordinary state, model state, normal condition, natural condition, ordinary condition, model condition, standing dish, standing order, Procrustean law, law of the Medes and Persians, hard and fast rule, conformable to rule, regular, according to regulation, according to rule, according to Hoyle, according to Cocker, according to Gunter, en regle, selon les regles, well regulated, orderly, symmetric, conventional, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, in the natural order of things, ordinary, common, habitual, usual, everyday, workaday, in the order of the day, naturalized, typical, normal, nominal, formal, canonical, orthodox, sound, strict, rigid, positive, uncompromising, Procrustean, secundum artem, shipshape, technical, exempIe, illustrative, in point, conformably, by rule, agreeably to, in conformity with, in accordance with, in keeping with, according to, consistently with, as usual, ad instar, instar omnium, more solito, more-majorum, for the sake of conformity, as a matter of course, of course, pro forma, for form's sake, by the card, invariably, for example, exempli gratia, e, g, inter alia, among other things, for instance, cela va sans dire, ex pede Herculem, noscitur a sociis, ne e quovis ligno Mercurius fiat, they are happy men whose natures sort with their v, The nail that sticks up hammered down, Tall poppy syndrome, Stick your neck out and it may get cut off.

Artlessness

N artlessness, nature, simplicity, innocence, bonhomie, naivete, abandon, candor, sincerity, singleness of purpose, singleness of heart, honesty, plain speaking, epanchement, rough diamond, matter of fact man, le palais de verite, enfant terrible, artless, natural, pure, native, confiding, simple, lain, inartificial, untutored, unsophisticated, ingenu, unaffected, naive, sincere, frank, open, open as day, candid, ingenuous, guileless, unsuspicious, honest, innocent, Arcadian, undesigning, straightforward, unreserved, aboveboard, simple-minded, single-minded, frank-hearted, open-hearted, single-hearted, simple-hearted, free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken, blunt, downright, direct, matter of fact, unpoetical, unflattering, in plain words, in plain English, without mincing the matter, not to mince the matter, Davus sum non Oedipus, liberavi animam meam, as frank as rain on cherry blossoms.

Affections

N affections, affect, character, qualities, disposition, nature, spirit, tone, temper, temperament, diathesis, idiosyncrasy, cast of mind, cast of soul, habit of mind, habit of soul, frame of mind, frame of soul, predilection, turn, natural turn of mind, bent, bias, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, propensity, propenseness, propension, propendency, vein, humor, mood, grain, mettle, sympathy, soul, heart, breast, bosom, inner man, heart's core, heart's strings, heart's blood, heart of hearts, bottom of one's heart, penetralia mentis, secret and inmost recesses of the heart, cockles of one's heart, inmost heart, inmost soul, backbone, passion, pervading spirit, ruling passion, master passion, furore, fullness of the heart, heyday of the blood, flesh and blood, flow of soul, energy, fervor, fire, force, affected, characterized, formed, molded, cast, attempered, tempered, framed, predisposed, prone, inclined, having a bias, tinctured with, imbued with, penetrated with, eaten up with, inborn, inbred, ingrained, deep-rooted, ineffaceable, inveterate, pathoscopic, congenital, dyed in the wool, implanted by nature, inherent, in the grain, affective, in one's heart, at heart, heart and soul, affection is a coal that must be cool'd else suffe.

Tendency

N tendency, aptness, aptitude, proneness, proclivity, bent, turn, tone, bias, set, leaning to, predisposition, inclination, propensity, susceptibility, conatus, nisus, liability, quality, nature, temperament, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, cast, vein, grain, humor, mood, drift, conduciveness, conducement, applicability, subservience, tending, conducive, working towards, in a fair way to, calculated to, liable, subservient, useful, subsidiary, for, whither.

World

N world, creation, nature, universe, earth, globe, wide world, cosmos, kosmos, terraqueous globe, sphere, macrocosm, megacosm, music of the spheres, heavens, sky, welkin, empyrean, starry cope, starry heaven, starry host, firmament, Midgard, supersensible regions, varuna, vault of heaven, canopy of heaven, celestial spaces, heavenly bodies, stars, asteroids, nebulae, galaxy, milky way, galactic circle, via lactea, ame no kawa, sun, orb of day, Apollo, Phoebus, photosphere, chromosphere, solar system, planet, planetoid, comet, satellite, moon, orb of night, Diana, silver-footed queen, aerolite, meteor, planetary ring, falling star, shooting star, meteorite, uranolite, constellation, zodiac, signs of the zodiac, Charles's wain, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Great Bear, Southern Cross, Orion's belt, Cassiopea's chair, Pleiades, colures, equator, ecliptic, orbit, astronomy, uranography, uranology, cosmology, cosmography, cosmogony, eidouranion, orrery, geodesy, star gazing, star gazer, astronomer, observatory, planetarium, cosmic, cosmical, mundane, terrestrial, terrestrious, terraqueous, terrene, terreous, telluric, earthly, geotic, under the sun, sublunary, subastral, solar, heliacal, lunar, celestial, heavenly, sphery, starry, stellar, sidereal, sideral, astral, nebular, uranic, in all creation, on the face of the globe, here below, under the sun, die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltergesicht, earth is but the frozen echo of the silent voice o, green calm below, blue quietness above, hanging in a golden chain this pendant World, nothing in nature is unbeautiful, silently as a dream the fabric rose, some touch of nature's genial glow, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, through knowledge we behold the World's creation.

Truth

N truth, fact, reality, plain fact, plain matter of fact, nature, truth, verity, gospel, gospel truth, God's honest truth, orthodoxy, authenticity, veracity, correctness, correctitude, accuracy, exactitude, exactness, preciseness, precision, delicacy, rigor, mathematical precision, punctuality, clockwork precision, conformity to rule, nicety, orthology, ipsissima verba, realism, plain truth, honest truth, sober truth, naked truth, unalloyed truth, unqualified truth, stern truth, exact truth, intrinsic truth, nuda veritas, the very thing, not an illusion, real Simon Pure, unvarnished tale, unvarnished truth, the truth the whole truth and nothing but the trut, just the thing, real, actual, veritable, true, right, correct, certain, substantially true, categorically true, definitively true, true to the letter, true as gospel, unimpeachable, veracious, unreconfuted, unconfuted, unideal, unimagined, realistic, exact, accurate, definite, precise, well-defined, just, just so, so, strict, severe, close, literal, rigid, rigorous, scrupulous, religiously exact, punctual, mathematical, scientific, faithful, constant, unerring, curious, particular, nice, delicate, fine, clean-cut, clear-cut, verified, empirically true, experimentally verified, substantiated, proven (demonstrated), rigorously true, unquestionably true, true by definition, genuine, authentic, legitimate, orthodox, official, ex officio, pure, natural, sound, sterling, unsophisticated, unadulterated, unvarnished, unalloyed, uncolored, in its true colors, pukka, well-grounded, well founded, solid, substantial, tangible, valid, undistorted, undisguised, unaffected, unexaggerated, unromantic, unflattering, truly, verily, indeed, really, in reality, with truth, certainly, actually, in effect, exactly, ad amussim, verbatim, verbatim et literatim, word for word, literally, literatim, totidem vervis, sic, to the letter, chapter and verse, ipsissimis verbis, ad unguem, to an inch, to a nicety, to a hair, to a tittle, to a turn, to a T, au pied de la lettre, neither more nor less, in every respect, in all respects, sous tous les rapports, at any rate, at all events, strictly speaking, the truth is, the fact is, rem acu tetigisti, en suivant la verite, ex facto jus oritur, la verita e figlia del empo, locos y ninos dicen la verdad, crazy people and children tell the truth, nihil est veritatis luce dulcius, veritas nunquam perit, veritatem dies aperit, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, just the facts, ma'am, just the facts.