English
natural
Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR năchʹər-əl IPA: /ˈnætʃəɹəl/, /ˈnætʃɹəl/
  • (GA) enPR năchʹər-əl, IPA: /ˈnætʃəɹəl/, /-ɚəl/, /ˈnætʃɹəl/
Adjective

natural

  1. That exists and evolved within the confines of an ecosystem.
    The species will be under threat if its natural habitat is destroyed.
  2. Of or relating to nature.
    In the natural world the fit tend to live on while the weak perish.
  3. Without artificial additives.
    Natural food is healthier than processed food.
  4. As expected; reasonable.
    It's natural for business to be slow on Tuesdays.
    His prison sentence was the natural consequence of a life of crime.
  5. (music) Neither sharp nor flat. Denoted ♮.
    There's a wrong note here: it should be C natural instead of C sharp.
  6. (music) Produced by natural organs, such as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music.
  7. (music) Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key.
  8. (math) Having 1 as the base of the system, of a function or number.
  9. Without, or prior to, modification or adjustment.
    the natural motion of a gravitating body
    The chairs were all natural oak but the table had a lurid finish.
    So-called second-generation silicone breast implants looked and felt more like the natural breast.
    1. (dice) The result of a dice roll before bonuses or penalties are added to or subtracted from the result.
  10. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.
    • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act VI, scene ii], page 145 ↗, column 1:
      Wiſedom ? to leaue his wife, to leaue his Babes, / His Manſion, and his Titles, in a place / From whence himſelfe do’s flye ? He loues vs not, / He wants the naturall touch.
  11. (obsolete) Connected by the ties of consanguinity.
  12. Related genetically but not legally to one's father; born out of wedlock, illegitimate.
    • 1990, Roy Porter, English Society in the 18th Century, Penguin 1991, p. 264:
      Dr Erasmus Darwin set up his two illegitimate daughters as the governesses of a school, noting that natural children often had happier (because less pretentious) upbringings than legitimate.
  13. (of sexual intercourse) Without a condom.
    We made natural love.
  14. (bridge) Bidding in an intuitive way that reflects one's actual hand.
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: naturfarben, naturfarbig
Translations
  • German: naturfarben, naturfarbig
Translations Translations Noun

natural (plural naturals)

  1. (now rare) A native inhabitant of a place, country etc. [from 16th c.]
    • 1615, Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia, Richmond 1957, page 3:
      I coniecture and assure my selfe that yee cannot be ignorant by what meanes this peace hath bin thus happily both for our proceedings and the welfare of the Naturals concluded [...].
  2. (music) A note that is not or is no longer to be modified by an accidental. [from 17th c.]
  3. (music) The symbol ♮ used to indicate such a natural note.
  4. One with an innate talent at or for something. [from 18th c.]
    He's a natural on the saxophone.
  5. An almost white colour, with tints of grey, yellow or brown; originally that of natural fabric. [from 20th c.]
     
  6. (archaic) One with a simple mind; a fool or idiot.
    • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene iv], page 62 ↗, column 1:
      Why is not this better now, then groning for Loue, now art thou ſociable, now art thou Romeo : now art thou what thou art, by Art as well as by Nature, for this driueling Loue is like a great Naturall, that runs lolling vp and downe to hid his bauble#English|bable in a hole.
    • 1633, A Banqvet of Jests: or, Change of Cheare. Being a collection, of Moderne Ieſts. Witty Ieeres. Pleaſant Taunts. Merry Tales. The Second Part newly publiſhed, page 30:
      A Noble-man tooke a great liking to a naturall, and had covenanted with his parents to take him from them and to keepe him for his pleaſure, and demanding of the Ideot if he would ſerve him, he made him this anſwere, My Father ſaith he, got me to be his foole of my mother, now if you long to have a foole; go & without doubt you may get one of your owne wife.
  7. (colloquial, chiefly UK) One's natural life.
    • 1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage 2014, page 155:
      ‘Sergeant-Major Robinson came in in the middle of it, and you've never seen a man look more surprised in your natural.’
  8. (US, colloquial) A hairstyle for people with afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated.
    • 2002, Maxine Leeds Craig, Ain't I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race, Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199881673
      Chinosole, who stopped straightening her hair and cut it into a natural while at a predominantly white college, was quite uneasy with the style
    • 2012, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul: Celebrating and Sharing Our Culture One Story at a Time, Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781453279953
      I wanted to do it for so long — throw out my chemically relaxed hair for a natural.
    • 2015, Carmen M. Cusack, HAIR AND JUSTICE: Sociolegal Significance of Hair in Criminal Justice, Constitutional Law, and Public Policy, Charles C Thomas Publisher ISBN 9780398090968, page 155
      Third, it insinuates that black afro hairstyles (e.g., naturals) relate to African cultural heritage, which is largely untrue.
  9. (algebra) Closed under submodules, direct sums, and injective hulls.
Translations
  • Italian: bequadro
  • Portuguese: bequadro
  • Spanish: becuadro
Translations Adverb

natural

  1. (colloquial, dialect) Naturally; in a natural manner.


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