Natural

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Natural \Nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), a. [OE. naturel, F. naturel, fr.
     L. naturalis, fr. natura. See {Nature}.]
     1. Fixed or determined by nature; pertaining to the
        constitution of a thing; belonging to native character;
        according to nature; essential; characteristic; innate;
        not artificial, foreign, assumed, put on, or acquired; as,


        the natural growth of animals or plants; the natural
        motion of a gravitating body; natural strength or
        disposition; the natural heat of the body; natural color.
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              With strong natural sense, and rare force of will.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     2. Conformed to the order, laws, or actual facts, of nature;
        consonant to the methods of nature; according to the
        stated course of things, or in accordance with the laws
        which govern events, feelings, etc.; not exceptional or
        violent; legitimate; normal; regular; as, the natural
        consequence of crime; a natural death; anger is a natural
        response to insult.
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              What can be more natural than the circumstances in
              the behavior of those women who had lost their
              husbands on this fatal day?           --Addison.
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     3. Having to do with existing system to things; dealing with,
        or derived from, the creation, or the world of matter and
        mind, as known by man; within the scope of human reason or
        experience; not supernatural; as, a natural law; natural
        science; history, theology.
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              I call that natural religion which men might know .
              . . by the mere principles of reason, improved by
              consideration and experience, without the help of
              revelation.                           --Bp. Wilkins.
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     4. Conformed to truth or reality; as:
        (a) Springing from true sentiment; not artificial or
            exaggerated; -- said of action, delivery, etc.; as, a
            natural gesture, tone, etc.
        (b) Resembling the object imitated; true to nature;
            according to the life; -- said of anything copied or
            imitated; as, a portrait is natural.
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     5. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to
        one's position; not unnatural in feelings.
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              To leave his wife, to leave his babes, . . .
              He wants the natural touch.           --Shak.
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     6. Connected by the ties of consanguinity. especially,
        Related by birth rather than by adoption; as, one's
        natural mother. "Natural friends." --J. H. Newman.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     7. Hence: Begotten without the sanction of law; born out of
        wedlock; illegitimate; bastard; as, a natural child.
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     8. Of or pertaining to the lower or animal nature, as
        contrasted with the higher or moral powers, or that which
        is spiritual; being in a state of nature; unregenerate.
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              The natural man receiveth not the things of the
              Spirit of God.                        --1 Cor. ii.
                                                    14.
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     9. (Math.) Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some
        system, in which the base is 1; -- said of certain
        functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those
        commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken
        in arcs whose radii are 1.
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     10. (Mus.)
         (a) Produced by natural organs, as those of the human
             throat, in distinction from instrumental music.
         (b) Of or pertaining to a key which has neither a flat
             nor a sharp for its signature, as the key of C major.
         (c) Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which
             moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but
             little from the original key.
         (d) Neither flat nor sharp; -- of a tone.
         (e) Changed to the pitch which is neither flat nor sharp,
             by appending the sign [natural]; as, A natural.
             --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
             [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     11. Existing in nature or created by the forces of nature, in
         contrast to production by man; not made, manufactured, or
         processed by humans; as, a natural ruby; a natural
         bridge; natural fibers; a deposit of natural calcium
         sulfate. Opposed to {artificial}, {man-made},
         {manufactured}, {processed} and {synthetic}. [WordNet
         sense 2]
         [PJC]
  
     12. Hence: Not processed or refined; in the same statre as
         that existing in nature; as, natural wood; natural foods.
         [PJC]
  
     {Natural day}, the space of twenty-four hours. --Chaucer.
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     {Natural fats}, {Natural gas}, etc. See under {Fat}, {Gas}.
        etc.
  
     {Natural Harmony} (Mus.), the harmony of the triad or common
        chord.
  
     {Natural history}, in its broadest sense, a history or
        description of nature as a whole, including the sciences
        of {botany}, {Zoology}, {geology}, {mineralogy},
        {paleontology}, {chemistry}, and {physics}. In recent
        usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of
        botany and Zoology collectively, and sometimes to the
        science of zoology alone.
  
     {Natural law}, that instinctive sense of justice and of right
        and wrong, which is native in mankind, as distinguished
        from specifically revealed divine law, and formulated
        human law.
  
     {Natural modulation} (Mus.), transition from one key to its
        relative keys.
  
     {Natural order}. (Nat. Hist.) See under {order}.
  
     {Natural person}. (Law) See under {person}, n.
  
     {Natural philosophy}, originally, the study of nature in
        general; the natural sciences; in modern usage, that
        branch of physical science, commonly called {physics},
        which treats of the phenomena and laws of matter and
        considers those effects only which are unaccompanied by
        any change of a chemical nature; -- contrasted with
        {mental philosophy} and {moral philosophy}.
  
     {Natural scale} (Mus.), a scale which is written without
        flats or sharps.
  
     Note: Model would be a preferable term, as less likely to
           mislead, the so-called artificial scales (scales
           represented by the use of flats and sharps) being
           equally natural with the so-called natural scale.
  
     {Natural science}, the study of objects and phenomena
        existing in nature, especially biology, chemistry, physics
        and their interdisciplinary related sciences; {natural
        history}, in its broadest sense; -- used especially in
        contradistinction to {social science}, {mathematics},
        {philosophy}, {mental science} or {moral science}.
  
     {Natural selection} (Biol.), the operation of natural laws
        analogous, in their operation and results, to designed
        selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in
        the survival of the fittest; the elimination over time of
        species unable to compete in specific environments with
        other species more adapted to survival; -- the essential
        mechanism of evolution. The principle of natural selection
        is neutral with respect to the mechanism by which
        inheritable changes occur in organisms (most commonly
        thought to be due to mutation of genes and reorganization
        of genomes), but proposes that those forms which have
        become so modified as to be better adapted to the existing
        environment have tended to survive and leave similarly
        adapted descendants, while those less perfectly adapted
        have tended to die out through lack of fitness for the
        environment, thus resulting in the survival of the
        fittest. See {Darwinism}.
  
     {Natural system} (Bot. & Zool.), a classification based upon
        real affinities, as shown in the structure of all parts of
        the organisms, and by their embryology.
  
              It should be borne in mind that the natural system
              of botany is natural only in the constitution of its
              genera, tribes, orders, etc., and in its grand
              divisions.                            --Gray.
        
  
     {Natural theology}, or {Natural religion}, that part of
        theological science which treats of those evidences of the
        existence and attributes of the Supreme Being which are
        exhibited in nature; -- distinguished from {revealed
        religion}. See Quotation under {Natural}, a., 3.
  
     {Natural vowel}, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir,
        her, etc.; -- so called as being uttered in the easiest
        open position of the mouth organs. See {Neutral vowel},
        under {Neutral} and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 17.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     Syn: See {Native}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Natural \Nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), n.
     1. A native; an aboriginal. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh.
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     2. pl. Natural gifts, impulses, etc. [Obs.] --Fuller.
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     3. One born without the usual powers of reason or
        understanding; an idiot. "The minds of naturals." --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Mus.) A character [[natural]] used to contradict, or to
        remove the effect of, a sharp or flat which has preceded
        it, and to restore the unaltered note.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A person who has an innate talent that makes success in
        some specific endeavor, such as sports, much easier than
        for others; as, Pele was a natural in soccer.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  natural
       adj 1: in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature;
              "a very natural development"; "our natural
              environment"; "natural science"; "natural resources";
              "natural cliffs"; "natural phenomena" [ant: {unnatural}]
       2: existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or
          imitation; "a natural pearl"; "natural gas"; "natural
          silk"; "natural blonde hair"; "a natural sweetener";
          "natural fertilizers" [ant: {artificial}]
       3: existing in or in conformity with nature or the observable
          world; neither supernatural nor magical; "a perfectly
          natural explanation" [ant: {supernatural}]
       4: functioning or occurring in a normal way; lacking
          abnormalities or deficiencies; "it's the natural thing to
          happen"; "natural immunity"; "a grandparent's natural
          affection for a grandchild"
       5: of a key containing no sharps or flats; "B natural" [ant: {sharp},
           {flat}]
       6: unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct; "a cat's
          natural aversion to water"; "offering to help was as
          instinctive as breathing" [syn: {instinctive}]
       7: (used especially of commodities) in the natural unprocessed
          condition; "natural yogurt"; "natural produce"; "raw
          wool"; "raw sugar"; "bales of rude cotton" [syn: {raw(a)},
           {rude(a)}]
       8: related by blood; not adopted; "natural parent"
       9: being talented through inherited qualities; "a natural
          leader"; "a born musician"; "an innate talent" [syn: {born(p)},
           {innate(p)}]
       10: unaffected and natural looking; "a lifelike pose"; "a
           natural reaction" [syn: {lifelike}]
       n 1: someone regarded as certain to succeed; "he's a natural for
            the job"
       2: a notation cancelling a previous sharp or flat [syn: {cancel}]
       3: (craps) a first roll of 7 or 11 that immediately wins the
          stake

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  396 Moby Thesaurus words for "natural":
     Afro, Attic, Bohemian, Ciceronian, Spartan, accepted, accidental,
     actual, affable, agrarian, alien, ament, appropriate, arcadian,
     artist, artless, ascetic, atavistic, austere, authentic, automatic,
     bald, bare, baseborn, basic, bastard, bodily, bona fide, born,
     born fool, breathing, breve, bucolic, candid, card-carrying, case,
     cast, casual, character, characteristic, chaste, child prodigy,
     cinch, classic, clear, clot, coeval, coif, coiffure, cold wave,
     common, commonplace, congenital, congenital idiot, conk, connatal,
     connate, connatural, consequent, consistent, consonant,
     constitutional, cordial, course, crackpot, crank, crap, craps,
     cretin, crotchet, customary, defective, degage, demisemiquaver,
     dinkum, direct, distinctive, distinguishing, dominant,
     dominant note, double whole note, dry, dull, easy, easygoing,
     eccentric, eighth note, elegant, enharmonic, enharmonic note,
     everyday, exemplary, expected, faithful, familiar, fanatic,
     fatherless, finished, fitting, flat, folksy, following the letter,
     fool, frank, free and easy, fundamental, general, genetic, genius,
     genuine, gifted child, gifted person, golem, good, graceful,
     gracile, gracious, guileless, habitual, haircut, hairdo, hairstyle,
     half note, half-wit, haymish, headdress, health,
     hemidemisemiquaver, hereditary, hermit, hobo, home permanent,
     homely, homespun, homey, honest, honest-to-God, idiot, ignorant,
     illegitimate, imbecile, impulsive, in the blood, in the raw,
     inartificial, inborn, inbred, incarnate, indigenous, informal,
     ingenuous, ingrained, inherent, inherited, innate, innocent,
     instinctive, instinctual, intellectual genius,
     intellectual prodigy, involuntary, irregular, juggins, kook,
     lawful, lean, legitimate, libidinal, lifelike, limpid, literal,
     living, logical, lone wolf, loner, loose, lucid, man of parts,
     matter-of-fact, maverick, mental genius, mental giant, meshuggenah,
     minim, misbegotten, mongoloid idiot, moron, musical note, naive,
     native, native to, natural idiot, natural to, natural-born fool,
     naturalistic, naturelike, naturistic, neat, net, nick,
     nonconformist, normal, note, nut, odd fellow, oddball, oddity,
     offhand, offhanded, open, orderly, ordinary, organic, original,
     outsider, pariah, pastoral, patent note, pellucid, permanent,
     permanent wave, perspicuous, physical, plain, plain-speaking,
     plain-spoken, polished, prevalent, primal, primitive, pristine,
     process, prodigy, proper, prosaic, prosing, prosy, provincial,
     pure, quarter note, quaver, queer duck, queer fish, queer specimen,
     quintessential, rara avis, real, realistic, reasonable, refined,
     regular, relaxed, report, responding note, restrained, rightful,
     roll, round, routine, rural, rustic, sample, screwball, semibreve,
     semiquaver, sensible, severe, shaped note, sharp, shoo-in, shot,
     simon-pure, simp, simple, simple-speaking, simplehearted,
     simpleton, sincere, sixteenth note, sixty-fourth note, sober,
     sociable, solitary, spare, speaking, spiccato, spontaneous,
     spurious, staccato, standard, stark, sterling, straight,
     straightforward, subliminal, supposititious, sure bet,
     sure success, sure thing, sure-enough, sustained note, talent,
     tasteful, temperamental, tercet, terse, thirty-second note, throw,
     to the life, tone, tramp, trim, triplet, true, true to form,
     true to life, true to nature, true to reality, true to type, typal,
     type, typic, typical, unacquired, unadorned, unadulterated,
     unaffected, unartificial, unassumed, unassuming, unceremonious,
     uncolored, unconcocted, unconscious, unconstrained, unconventional,
     uncopied, uncounterfeited, uncultivated, understandable,
     undesigning, undisguised, undisguising, undissembling,
     undissimulating, undistorted, undomesticated, unembarrassed,
     unembellished, unexaggerated, unexceptional, unfabricated,
     unfanciful, unfeigned, unfeigning, unfictitious, unflattering,
     unimaginative, unimagined, unimitated, uninvented, unlabored,
     unlearned, unofficial, unpoetical, unpremeditated, unpretended,
     unpretending, unpretentious, unqualified, unromantic, unschooled,
     unsimulated, unsophisticated, unspecious, unspoiled, unstudied,
     unsullied, unsynthetic, untouched, untutored, unvarnished,
     unworldly, usual, verbal, verbatim, veridical, verisimilar, virgin,
     virginal, wave, whole note, winner, word-for-word, zany, zealot
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  NATURAL
       
          An integrated {4GL} from {Software AG}, Germany.  The
          menu-driven version is SUPER/NATURAL.
       
          Natural 2 is a major upgrade to Natural 1.
       
          Version 2.1.7 in the MVS environment (June 1995, also
          available for Unix).
       
          Natural works with {DB2} and various other {databases}, but
          Natural and {Adabas} normally go together.  There are many
          products available in the "Natural" family, including
          SuperNatural, Natural for Windows, Entire Connection (enables
          up/downloading and interaction with {Excel}) and Esperant.
       
          (1995-11-14)