▪ I. nature, n.
(ˈneɪtjʊə(r), ˈneɪtʃə(r))
Also 4– 5, 6 Sc. natur, 5, 6–7 Sc. natour, 6 Sc. nateur, natuir.
[a. F. nature (12th c.), ad. L. nātūra birth, constitution, character, course of things, etc., f. nāt-, ppl. stem of nascī to be born. The native English word is kind n.]
I. 1. a. The essential qualities or properties of a thing; the inherent and inseparable combination of properties essentially pertaining to anything and giving it its fundamental character.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22147 O thinges sere þair naturs [he shall cause] turnd to be in sere figurs. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 19 If I schal more seie Upon the nature of the vice. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 20 The bitter herbe is sa felloun bitter of his nature. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 282 b, Aristotel,..Plinie, and suche other like, haue wrytten of the nature of Plantes, Herbes, Beastes, Metalles and Precious stones. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. i. 82 The knowledge..depends of the well under⁓standing the nature of the Equinoctiall. a 1674 Clarendon Surv. Leviath. (1676) 27 Describing the nature of foul weather. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 62 ¶5 The Passion of Love in its Nature has been thought to resemble Fire. 1780 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xvii. §15 This influence will depend upon the nature of the motive. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley ix. 136 You have twice had warning of the fleeting nature of riches. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 76 The nature of this absorbed matter may be determined by a simple experiment. |
† b. Degree (of wrong-doing).
Obs. rare—1.
| 1642 J. M[arsh] Argt. conc. Militia 22 Delinquents in a high nature against Parliament. |
c. Texture as indicative of quality.
| 1865 J. T. F. Turner Slate Quarries 17 Near the surface it [slate] is softer, looser, and of a red tinge.., but deeper the ‘nature’ improves. |
2. a. The inherent and innate disposition or character of a person (or animal). Also, (one's)
better nature.
See also
good nature,
ill nature, and
second.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21888 Ilk creatur Efter þe state of his natur, Better his maker knaus þan man. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 205 A wolf he was.., The whos nature prively He hadde in his condicion. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1693 They..callyd hem goddes..for the streyngthe & myght of her nature. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 42 Sic brallaris and bosteris, degenerat fra thair naturis. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 615 The Englishe men (whose natures are not to be faynt hearted, euen at the very ieopardie of death). 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 227 Choosing rather to vndergo all hazards,..then so long a voyage by sea, to my nature so irksome. 1680 Otway Orphan ii. iv, I must..Wound his soft Nature, though my own Heart akes for it. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 93 ¶4 Men may change their Climate, but they cannot their Nature. 1781 Cowper Charity 153 He..Puts off his generous nature; and..puts on the brute. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger ii. ii. 34 My brother has it not in his nature to feel jealousy. 1848 Lytton Harold III. xii. ix. 375 His own better nature which, ere polluted by plotting-craft, and hardened by despotic ire, was magnanimous and heroic, moved and won him. 1860 Mozley Univ. Serm. vii. (1877) 155 Some persons appear to have a nature richer in good than others. 1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-Anal. iii. x. 129 Any repressed desire which belongs to my undeveloped ‘better nature’. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle xiii. 246 By the time Stephen got home, my better nature had asserted itself and I was terribly worried about his feelings. 1965 M. Frayn Tin Men i. 9 Appeal to their better natures. |
b. The general inherent character or disposition of mankind. Also in
phr. human nature.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 140 b, Though ye fall neuer so ofte by impacyency, through y⊇ fraylte of nature. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 190 Hereto..our nature is allured and drawen. 1668 Dryden Dram. Poesy Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 36 A just and lively image of human nature. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 53 ¶7 It was not in Nature to command ones Eyes from this Object. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Act of Charity, Nature is shy, and hates to act before spectators. 1835 Browning Paracelsus iv. 87 One can ne'er keep down Our foolish nature's weakness. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 3 Human nature, happily for us, ever presses against this system or that. |
c. With adjectives, in reference to the different elements of human character.
| a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. v. (1677) 332 So much of that in Man that concerns his Animal Nature. 1870 J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. ix. 339 This consciousness, reflection, and action we call our own rational nature. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. viii. 252 Men have a physical as well as a spiritual nature. |
† d. Character, capacity; function.
Obs. rare.
| 1601 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. v. i. 272 (Q.), Which..I do thus first of all vncase, & appeare in mine owne proper nature, seruant to this gentleman. 1645 King's Cabinet Opened in Sel. Harl. Misc. (1793) 355 For the French, it was impossible for them to serve her in that nature. |
3. a. With
a and
pl. An individual character, disposition, etc., considered as a kind of entity in itself; hence, a thing or person of a particular quality or character.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. ii. (1868) 152 Ne þer ne was neuer no nature of resoun þat it ne hadde liberte of fre wille. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 88 The god commandeth the natures That thei to him obeien alle. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 354 Grauellis dolue in iij naturis varye: In red, & hoor, & blak vnvariable. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 39 b, The natures hotte & moyst, be leste indamaged. 1587 Golding De Mornay ii. (1592) 22 Making and creating are referred to natures or substances, and all natures and substances are good. Ibid., Euill is neither a nature nor a substance. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 284 In euery Nature there must be a Patient correspondent and answerable to the agent. 1668 Temple Let. Wks. 1720 II. 119 There are some Natures in the World who never can proceed sincerely in Business. 1784 Cowper Task v. 481 Roughness in the grain Of British natures. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam x. vi, So there Strange natures made a brother⁓hood of ill. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 172 The unquestioning truthfulness of a sunny nature. |
| collect. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 834 Dost thou count..all Angelic Nature joined in one, Equal to him begotten Son. |
b. Artillery. A class or size of guns or shot.
| 1813 Ld. Cathcart in Examiner 31 May 342/2 He had an immense quantity of ordnance, of twelve-pounders, and larger natures. 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 130 One Hundred of each Nature of Case-Shot. 1884 Mil. Engin. I. ii. 61 Lubricators, secured outside for 40-prs., and choked inside the cartridges for lower natures. |
4. In various phrases:
a. of (a certain) nature.
In first
quot. perhaps in sense of ‘origin’.
| c 1440 Generydes 2656 ‘We are broderen’, quod he, ‘of on nature’. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. vii. 47 Thy beloued is of suche nature þat he wol admitte no straunger. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 204 b, He was a man of verey milde nature. 1588 Shakes. L. L. L. v. ii. 377 Your capacitie Is of that nature, that to your huge stoore, Wise things seeme foolish. 1625 Burges Pers. Tithes 29 Sacriledge, and many other sinnes of a high nature. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. iv. §10 Who may in a matter of this nature..be the more credited. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 1 ¶1 With other Particulars of the like Nature. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. i. 21 A plan of this nature. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 23 To bring a charge..of such a nature as should fall within this penalty. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 189 The most barren logical abstraction is of a higher nature than number and figure. |
b. of or in the nature of.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 89 A Peace is of the nature of a Conquest. 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 457 A rich gold campane, which is in the nature of a fringe. 1736 Butler Anal. Introd., Wks. 1874 I. 1 That the slightest possible presumption is of the nature of a probability, appears from hence. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones Ded., Your desires are to me in the nature of commands. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1085 A Quo warranto being in the nature of a writ of right. 1880 Geikie Phys. Geog. iv. 217 The earthquake is really of the nature of a wave. |
† c. Similarly
in nature of.
Obs.| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. ii. iv. 225 The Heriot was, what the Eorle or Thane paid his Lord..in nature of a Relief. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 497 A Maid, living..with her Sisters, to whom she was in nature of a Servant. |
d. in the nature of things, of the case.
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xix. (1886) 56 It were follie to staie overlong in the confutation of that, which is not in the nature of things. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 523 There are in the nature of things certaine Sympathies and Antipathies. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. Rom. ii. 13 It is, in the nature of the case, probable that [etc.]. 1854 Macaulay Biog. (1860) 138 It was not in the nature of things that popularity such as he..enjoyed should be permanent. |
e. the nature of the beast.
| 1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Proverbs (ed. 2) 77 It's the nature o' th' beast. c 1683 J. Verney Let. in M. M. Verney Mem. (1899) IV. vii. 254 I'me very Sorry John my Coachman Should be soe great a Clowne to you..but t'is the nature of the Beast. 1748 Richardson Clarissa III. 218, I might as well have preserv'd the first; for I see it is the nature of the beast. 1893 Kipling Many Invent. 254 'Twas the nature av the baste to put the comether on the best av thim. 1969 V. Gielgud Necessary End v. 48 Barry Compayne never made bones about..the number of girls that he had ‘laid’... Anthea had chosen deliberately to put down such exploits to ‘the nature of the beast’. |
f. nature and nurture,
nature-nurture, heredity and environment as influences on, or the determinants of, personality (see
quot. 1874). Also
attrib.| [1610 Shakes. Tempest iv. i. 188 A borne-Deuill, on whose nature Nurture can neuer sticke.] 1874 R. Galton Eng. Men of Sci.: their Nature & Nurture i. 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. Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world; nurture is every influence from without that affects him after his birth. 1914 F. W. Mott (title) Nature and nurture in mental development. Ibid. 1 The problem of nature and nurture in mental development is one that has recently acquired importance. 1933 L. Hogben (title) Nature and nurture. 1946 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. May 159 The particular nature-nurture ratio value, or the physiological or anatomical associations which it possesses. 1952 C. P. Blacker Eugenics 267 Unconscious prejudices can throw the nature-nurture controversy into different perspectives. 1965 R. B. Cattell Sci. Analysis of Personality ii. 50 The nature-nurture ratios are not fixed and immutable laws, but statements which may change with culture patterns and the ranges of racial, genetic difference within the given population. 1972 Times 2 Sept. 14/3 The argument between the ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ schools of thought. 1974 Science 5 July 20/2 The disagreement about the causation of autism... First, there is the usual nature-nurture controversy. |
5. by (earlier † of, † on) nature, in virtue of the very character or essence of the thing or person.
In some cases with suggestion of senses 9 and 11.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 14 For wyne of nature makithe hertes lyghte. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlix. 36 Eftir respyt To wirk dispyt Moir appetyt He hes of natour. 1526 Tindale Gal. ii. 15 We which are Jewes by nature and not synners off the gentyls. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxix. 152 The gulfe Saxonique of nature beset and enuironed with high mountaines. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 34 The Oke by nature broad. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 527 He..ordaind thy will By nature free, not over-rul'd by Fate. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 417 In a Place, by Nature close, they build A narrow Flooring. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. i, I was, by nature, an admirer of happy human faces. 1823 Byron Juan xv. lii, Adeline was liberal by nature. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. iii. 116 Asia Minor..was by nature one of the most beautiful..of countries. |
II. 6. a. The vital or physical powers
of man; (a person's) physical strength or constitution (
obs.); the strength or substance
of a thing.
| c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 35 Þe nature of Man is of greater strengþe and of greater hete ine þo age. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 282 Medicinaris and philosophouris gevis the gold..in medicyne to folk that are debilitez in thair nature. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 174 He has bene lychour so lang quhill lost is his natur. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §102 b, Any such corrasiue, sharpe or eager medicine..as the said H. shal think his nature is vnable to suffer. 1886 Chesh. Gloss. s.v., Anything which is beginning to deteriorate is said to have lost its nature. 1890 Nature 11 Dec. 129 The fungus..as it goes destroys the ‘nature’ of the wood. |
b. With
some,
no, etc. Common in
dial. use.
| 1597 Bacon Ess. Ep. Ded., There mought be as great a vanitie in..withdrawing mens conceites (except they bee of some nature) from the world. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v., [The meat] was ‘so overdone, there seemed to be no nature left in it’. 1886 Chesh. Gloss. s.v., Land which has become impoverished has no nature in it. 1889 Reports Provinc. (E.D.D.), ‘Her'd got no natur in her’, speaking of a girl who was very weak. |
7. † a. Semen.
Obs. b. The menses.
Obs. or
rare.| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶503 Vnkyndely synne, by which man or womman shedeth her nature. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters I vj, Yf a person weneth that his nature wyl fall betwene the flesshe and the skynne. 1575 Turberv. Venerie lxvi. 186 Cut out hir gutte whiche holdeth hir spreame or nature. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 236 The true sign of conception is, when their nature (that is) the fluent humour out of their secrets ceaseth for a moneth, or two, or three. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 373 Frightened she was when her nature came on her first. |
† 8. The female pudendum,
esp. that of a mare.
| 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. xiii. 162 No persone myght haue none, but yf he wente and fette it at the nature of a woman. 1569 R. Androse tr. Alexis' Secr. iv. iii. 46 Take the nature of a female Hare made into pouder. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 235 Therewithal touch the nature of the mare in her purgation. 1622 T. Scott News fr. Parnassus 33 If that great Lady had not made a vow of perpetuall chastity and her nature..had not been stytched up. 1750 Ellis Mod. Husb. III. 175 (E.D.S.). |
III. 9. a. The inherent dominating power or impulse (in men or animals) by which action or character is determined, directed, or controlled. (Sometimes personified.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 11 And smale fowles maken melodye,..(So priketh hem nature in hir corages). a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 4 Alle faders and moders after good nature aught to teche her children to leue alle wrong and euelle waies. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. vii, No man is chaunged by nature, but of an euyll man maye wel yssue and come a wers than hymself. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlvi. 52 To luve eik natur gaif thame inclynnyng. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 238 As though nature had not set sufficient loue betwene man and man. 1614 Latham Falconry (1633) 80 Those phisicall appliments, by which, that skilfull Faulconer (Dame Nature) hath taught her to worke her owne welfare. 1667 Milton P. L. viii. 506 Nature her self..Wrought in her so, that seeing me, she turn'd. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 22 By nature is often meant no more than some principle in man. 1793 Cowper Beau's Reply ii, 'Twas Nature, sir, whose strong behest Impelled me to the deed. 1823 Byron Juan xv. lii, But nature's nature, and has more caprices Than I have time, or will, to take to pieces. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 261 The driving-wheels of all powerful nature are in the back of the head. |
b. Contrasted with
grace.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. lix. 138 Nature sekiþ to haue curiose þinges & feire þinges,..but grace delitiþ in simple þinges. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Matt. v. 46–8 So far as any thing of God is in them, whether it be Nature or Grace. a 1696 P. Henry in M. Henry's Wks. (1853) II. 737/2 Nature is contented with little, grace with less. 1779 J. Duché Disc. (1790) II. i. 14 We must first feel the poverty of nature before we can desire the riches of Grace. |
c. law of nature: (see
law n.1 9 c).
light of nature: (see
light n. 6 b).
d. against nature, contrary to what nature prompts, unnatural, immoral, vicious. ?
Obs.| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 90 Off syn als aganis the Haly Spreit,..and syn aganis nateur. 1611 Bible Rom. i. 26 Euen their women did change the naturall vse into that which is against nature. a 1614 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 39 Al sinne is very truely said to be against nature... S. Augustine sayes, Every vice, as it is vice, is against nature. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 81 They are wholly given up to all licentiousness, even to sins against Nature. |
e. Natural feeling or affection. Now
dial.| 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. v. 46 Stop vp th' accesse, and passage to Remorse, That no compunctious visitings of Nature Shake my fell purpose. 1703 Pope Thebais 332 Have we not seen..The murd'ring son..Thro' violated nature force his way..? a 1718 Penn Maxims Wks. 1726 I. 827, I shew little Duty or Nature to my Parents. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., A simple old woman, as a reason for loving one of her daughters more than the others, said ‘she had more nature in her’. 1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua 514 There's often more nature in people of that sort, than in..their betters. |
f. A natural action or proceeding.
rare.
| 1817 Chalmers Astron. Disc. v. (1852) 126 It was nature in the shepherd to leave the ninety and nine of his flock..alone in the wilderness. |
10. a. The inherent power or force by which the physical and mental activities of man are sustained. (Sometimes personified.)
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxix. 293 The most part of hem dyen with outen Syknesse, whan nature faylethe hem for elde. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. M ij b, For [by blood-letting] nature dyspensed ouer all the body is lyghtned. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 11 For nature cressant does not grow alone, In thewes and Bulke. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. 28 As when Physicians say, that Nature is strong, or weak, or spent. 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 1 Tir'd nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep! 1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digest. (1842) 238 Nature is more willing to do her part than we are to do ours. |
b. The vital functions as requiring to be supported by nourishment.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 115 Thai bith welthe, and haue all thinges nescessarie to the sustenance of nature. a 1658 Waller Panegyric to Protector xiii, Our little world..Of her own growth hath all that nature craves. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 452 When with meats & drinks they had suffic'd Not burd'nd Nature. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 169 We have now nothing but a little water to support Nature. 1807 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) II. 182, I returned hungry..and had only snow to supply the calls of nature. 1819 Shelley Cenci ii. ii. 16 If you..were reduced at once..To that which nature doth indeed require? 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xl, The prison allowance will not support nature. |
c. With reference to other physical requirements.
| a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 345/2 The night beefore..was hee compelled by nature to goe to the preuy. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 123 His servant..diverted a little out of the way to perform the work of nature. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 328 He withdrew from the Company to ease Nature. 1747 Chesterfield Lett. cxxxiii. (1792) I. 359 That small portion of [time], which the calls of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house. |
IV. 11. a. The creative and regulative physical power which is conceived of as operating in the material world and as the immediate cause of all its phenomena.
balance of nature: see
balance n. 13 d.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 748 Quo formed þe þy fayre fygure?..Þy beaute com neuer of nature. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4010 Polexena.. was..Alse noble for þe nonest as natur cold deuyse. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 10 Zepherus..comfort has, be wyrking off natour, All fructuous thing in till the erd. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 234 b, Of all the membres of the body, nature hath made the eye moost mouable. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 5 This Table sheweth the order of euery substance and kind, as thei are appointed by Nature. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 557 That common saying, that God and Nature the minister of God doe nothing without cause. 1603 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 30 All the Ilands which nature hath scatred in these seas. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 231 Where Nature shall provide Green Grass, and fat'ning Clover for their Fare. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 51 Oh! the wonderful Works of Nature; That a black Hen should have a white Egg! 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 260 The weapon with which Nature has armed this animal. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. v. 213 He attributes the uniformity of succession and coexistence to laws set by nature. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 69 To take advantage of nature's engineering. |
b. More or less definitely personified as a female being. (Usu. with capital.)
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 80 Nature had grete ioy her to behelde. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, Both two in one So ioyned..By the emperesse that called is Nature. c 1450 Holland Howlat 32 Thir sauoruss seidis War nurist be dame Natur. 1481 Caxton Myrr. i. xiv. 43 Without nature may nothinge growe, and by her haue alle thinges created lyf. 1545 T. Raynalde Birth Mankynde (1564) 27 Wherefore prudent Lady nature full wisely hath prouided..a continuall course and resort of blood. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 14 Flowres which only Dame Nature trauels with. 1718 Watts Hymn i, Nature with open volume stands, To spread her Maker's praise abroad. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 600 Some note of Nature's music from his lips. 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 252/2 Nature with her burning sun, her stilled and pent-up wind. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 205 In the application of her own principles, Nature often transcends the human imagination. |
c. Contrasted with medical skill or treatment in the cure of wounds or diseases.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 8/2 We recommende such thinges vnto Nature, and followe her instructions. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. i. viii. 33 If Wounds in the dressing be abused..what can be expected, but Natures unwillingness and refractoriness. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 193 The Physician is Nature's profess'd Servant. 1795 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 290 Nature, in desperate diseases, frequently does most when she is left entirely to herself. |
d. Contrasted with
art: (see
art n. 2). Also, fidelity or close adherence to nature; naturalness.
from nature: see
from prep. (
adv.,
conj.) 13.
| 1704 Pope Disc. Past. Poetry §8 Theocritus excels all others in nature and simplicity. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (1786) I. 226 The colouring of the heads clear, and with great nature. 1779–81 Johnson L. P., Pope Wks. IV. 142 Nature being, in this sense, only the best effect of art. 1826 Scott Woodst. xxxii, They will do it with more nature and effect, if they believe they are swearing truth. |
12. In various phrases:
a. against nature, or
contrary to, nature.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 100 Thys Eolus hath oft, Made me to retourne my course agayn nature. c 1440 Alph. Tales 157 Nero said vnto þaim; ‘Make ye me to be with childe’..And þai ansswerd agayn & said þat it was not possible, þat was contrarie vnto natur. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 305 It war aganis bayth natur and gud ressoun, That Dewlbeiris bairnis were trew. 1526 Tindale Rom. xi. 24 Yf thou waste..graffed contrary to nature in a true olyve tree. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. iv. 88 It finally in the time of Summer overfloweth Egypt, which seemeth against nature. |
b. debt of nature, etc.: (see
debt n. 4 b).
c. course of nature: (see
course n. 20).
| c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 34/1 There is nomore than one in all ye cours of nature. 1581 Mulcaster Positions vi. (1887) 44 Olde age, which though it come by course, and commaundement of nature [etc.]. 1613 Salkeld Treat. Angels 89 A miracle..being out of the common course of nature, beyond or above it, doth cause admiration. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 305 Touching the production of Animals,..they are in the ordinary course of Nature of two kinds. 1736 Butler Anal. i. ii. Wks. 1874 I. 40 The whole course of nature is a present instance of his exercising that government over us. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 219 He cannot be supposed to live much longer, according to the course of nature. 1826 Whately Logic (1836) 351 According to him, there is no such thing as a Course of Nature. |
d. law(s) of nature: (see
law n.1 17).
e. in nature, in the actual basis of things, in real fact.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxiii. §49 There are in Nature certain Fountains of Justice, whence all ciuile Lawes are derived but as streams. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 442 [To] equal what between us made the odds, In Nature none. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 61 What other Foundation of Truth it had in Nature, I know not. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life viii. ii. 288 There is really, in nature, such a thing as high life. |
f. (one of) nature's gentlemen: a natural gentleman, a person who is a gentleman by nature. Hence in similar phrases, and in extended use: by temperament.
| 1841 Thackeray Second Funeral Napoleon iii. 67 In the matter of gentleman democrats, cry pshaw! Give us one of nature's gentlemen, and hang your aristocrats! a 1882 Trollope Autobiogr. (1883) I. iii. 53 If I say that a judge should be a gentleman..I am met with a scornful allusion to ‘Nature's Gentlemen’. 1898 A. J. Munby Diary 26 Mar. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 423 A splendid woman, full of rustic health & vigour, & one of Nature's ladies. 1901 G. B. Shaw Admirable Bashville ii. i. 309 You need not be an idle gentleman. I call you one of Nature's gentlemen. 1929 A. Huxley Let. 9 May (1969) 311 Now..I can write a letter. It will be a poor return for all yours, because I am not one of nature's letter-writers. 1969 L. Durrell Spirit of Place 19 He was one of nature's lobbyers—a tireless and relentless fellow. 1969 Times 15 Nov. 10/4 Nature's gentleman one day Bobby [Charlton] will be remembered as the jewel of them all. 1971 P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin iii. 67 One of nature's innocents. He couldn't dissemble if he tried. 1973 Guardian 18 June 9/6 We all know the kind of women who are just nature's doormats and..put up with anything. |
13. a. The material world, or its collective objects and phenomena,
esp. those with which man is most directly in contact;
freq. the features and products of the earth itself, as contrasted with those of human civilization.
| 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. ii. §17 According to the Atomicall principles, no rationall account can be given of those effects which are seen in nature. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 153 Such vast room in Nature unpossest By living Soule. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 450 Surveying Nature with too nice a view. 1781 Cowper Hope 245 To enjoy cool nature in a country seat. Ibid. 740 Unconscious nature,..Rocks, groves, and streams. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 32 We derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere beauties of nature. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iv, Nature was not so far removed or hard to get at, as in these days. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. civ. 497 They lead a solitary life in the midst of a vast nature. |
b. In wider sense: (see
quots.).
| 1862 Edin. Rev. CXVI. 381 ‘Nature’ is being used in the narrow sense of physical nature... But these selves of ours do belong to ‘Nature’. 1873 Dawson Earth & Man xiv. 343 Holding nature to represent the whole cosmos, and to include both the physical and the spiritual. |
c. in nature, anywhere; at all. (Used as an intensive with superlatives and negatives.)
| 1661 Wood Life 3 May, All seniors..did look upon him, as the most impudent fellow in nature. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode 1, With all this, she's the greatest gossip in Nature. 1721 Cibber Lady's Last Stake iv, And what Effect had that? O! none in Nature! 1770 Foote Lame Lover i. Wks. 1799 II. 63 An engagement that can't in nature be missed. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. i. ii, It..is one of the curusest things in nater. |
d. all nature, everything, everyone, all creation;
like all nature, like anything, like blazes.
U.S. colloq.| 1819 Mass. Spy 3 Nov. 3/1 Father and I have just returned from the balloon—all nature was there, and more too. 1824 Woodstock (Vermont) Observer 17 Feb., They said too 'twould shoot like all nater, 'Tis singlar what stories they tell. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 93 Hurra for you—that beats all nater! 1840 C. F. Hoffman Greyslaer II. iii. xiv. 254 The poor critter would have been sucked under, smashed on the rocky bottom, and dragged off like all natur. 1878 Mrs. Stowe in Atlantic Monthly Oct. 472/2 Cuff would prance round..and seem to think he..had the charge of all natur'. 1892 J. C. Duval Early Times in Texas vi. 82 ‘Well, I declar, boys,’ said he, ‘ef this don't beat all natur.’ |
14. a. the or a state of nature: (
a) the moral state natural to man, as opposed to a state of grace; (
b) the condition of man before the foundation of organized society; (
c) an uncultivated or undomesticated condition; (
d) physical nakedness.
| a 1667 South Serm. (1697) I. 9 The Difference between a state of Nature, and a state of Grace. 1689 Locke Govt. ii. ii. ¶6 The state of Nature has a Law of Nature to govern it. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. vii. 152 He who is a member of a society in other respects retains his natural liberty, is still as it were in a state of nature. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd. 58 Quadrille in particular bears some Resemblance to a State of Nature. 1802 C. Wilmot Let. 3 Jan. in Irish Peer (1920) 23 My first impression was amazement, at beholding the women from 15 to 70 almost in a state of nature. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 326 It will perhaps be found that all countries in a state of nature are liable to this disease. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 184/1 The true civet..is found in a state of nature in most parts of Africa. 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel ix. 561 It is man's own fault, if..he remain in, or apostatise into, a state of nature. 1970 Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (ed. 12) 747/2 In a state of nature, nude or naked. |
† b. in nature, in a natural condition; unmanufactured.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 237 Draw-backs upon Goods Exported, in nature as Imported. |
c. A malleable state (of iron).
| 1791 Beddoes in Phil. Trans. LXXXI. 174 It [the pig iron] approaches more and more towards nature [malleable iron]. 1895 Pinnock Black Country Ann. (E.D.D.), My iron's just comin' to natur'. |
V. 15. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib., chiefly in sense ‘of, belonging or relating to nature’, as
nature-cure,
nature-folk,
nature-force,
nature-kingdom,
nature-lover,
nature-loving (
adj.),
nature-mystic,
nature-mysticism,
nature-myth,
nature-mythology,
nature-philosophy,
nature poem,
nature poet,
nature poetry,
nature-power,
nature ramble,
nature-religion,
nature-symbol,
nature-symbolism,
nature walk,
nature-worship,
nature-worshipper,
nature-writer,
nature-writing (
vbl. n.);
Nature Conservancy, an organization responsible for the conservation and study of flora and fauna in Britain, which runs nature reserves, research stations, etc.;
nature conservation, the preservation of wild fauna and flora and the habitat necessary for their continued existence in their native surroundings;
nature-faker orig. U.S., a person who falsifies reports of natural phenomena,
esp. animal behaviour; so
nature-faking vbl. n. and ppl. a.;
nature-god, one of the powers or phenomena of nature personified as a god; so
nature-being,
-deity;
nature-name, a toponym embodying an allusion to a natural occurrence or topographical feature;
nature-notes, comments on natural history;
nature-people, people in a low or primitive stage of culture;
nature reserve, a tract of land managed in order to preserve its fauna, flora, physical features, etc.;
nature sanctuary, an area in which the fauna and flora are protected from any disturbance;
nature-spirit, a spirit supposed to reside in some natural element or object;
nature strip Austral. local (see
quot. 1966);
nature study, the study of natural objects and phenomena,
esp. as a subject taught in schools; an example of this; so (
rare)
nature-student;
nature trail, a path linking features of interest,
esp. in relation to local natural history, which are described and interpreted by explanatory notices, printed leaflets, or a guide.
| 1877 tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 23 All the spirits which they worship..are *nature-beings of more or less might. |
| 1949 Times 12 Feb. 3/4 Mr. Herbert Morrison announced in the House of Commons yesterday that arrangements have been completed for forming a *Nature Conservancy, and that a separate committee will supervise activities in Scotland... The conservancy—‘a more convenient title than conservation board’—would be responsible for the whole of Great Britain. Ibid. 5/3 The Nature Conservancy is to have a general charge over all matters relating to the native fauna and flora of Britain. 1959 News Chron. 4 Dec. 7/6 The Nature Conservancy has had to abandon plans to establish a warden on Dungeness. 1971 O. Norton Corpse-Bird Cries ii. 25 Nature conservancy, or Snowdonia national park, or something. They've laid out a nature trail at Llyn Coedig. 1974 M. Blackmore in Warren & Goldsmith Conservation in Pract. xxvii. 427 On March 23rd, 1949, it [sc. the Government] created the Nature Conservancy by royal charter as a new research council. |
| 1943 Nature Conservation & Nature Reserves (Brit. Ecol. Soc.) 7 The whole problem of *nature conservation requires to be viewed against the human or social background. 1948 Times 30 Apr. 6/3 Mr. H. Morrison..said that the Government accepted in principle the recommendations..calling for the establishment of a Nature Conservation Board. 1953 Rep. Nature Conservancy to 1952 3 Though the Act as a whole does not extend to Scotland, Part III and such other Sections as relate to nature conservation are so extended. 1968 C. Burke Elephant across Border v. 203 You can do more for nature conservation by shocking people..than a whole heap of discussion groups and bird magazines can do. 1974 M. Blackmore in Warren & Goldsmith Conservation in Pract. xxvii. 423 Nature conservation illustrates the gradual evolution and development of modern attitudes. |
| 1876 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 249 His system of a *nature-cure, first professed by Dr. Jean Jaques and continued by Cowper. 1906 Chambers's Jrnl. 24 Nov. 832/1 At Dr. Lahmann's nature-cure sanatorium,..care is taken to cook vegetables so as to retain the nutritive and soluble salts. 1969 C. Watson Flaxborough Crab xvii. 180 What have I to do with this—this nature cure chicanery? |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 56/2 One of the great *nature-deities, such as Heaven or Sun, is raised to this royal pre-eminence. |
| 1906 Everybody's Mag. June 770 (heading) Roosevelt on the *nature fakirs. 1909 Daily Chron. 8 Dec. 6/4 A President..who never..‘goes for’ Congress or nature-fakers or millionaires. 1949 Natural Hist. Mar. 131/2 Many nature fakers had obtained free meals..through the gullibility of newspaper reporters. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 10 Apr. 17/1, I should be sorry to have Mr. John Burroughs catch me *nature-faking. 1923 Kipling Land & Sea Tales 85 To say that William did not sleep a wink that night would be what has been called ‘nature-faking’. 1947 Sports Afield Dec. 6/3 It was apparent to me that the writer colored his material, particularly in regard to the nature faking episode. |
| 1927 Peake & Fleure Peasants & Potters i. 8 They had settled down into a routine, as had many *nature-folk the world over before European industrialism touched them in the last century. |
| 1876 Gladstone Homeric Synch. 214 His ideas..separate so broadly between human beings and the *Nature forces. |
| 1871 Tylor Prim. Cult. (1903) II. 255 The great *Nature-gods are huge in strength and far-reaching in influence. |
| 1865 Fam. Treas. 412 In the spiritual kingdom, as in the great *nature-kingdoms. |
| 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. July 426/2 Many an angler and *nature-lover is a veritable ‘prisoner of Hope’. 1937 Discovery Jan. 32/1 The book is a most suitable gift for nature lovers of all ages. 1969 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 31 Aug. 4/1 It is the perfect spot in summertime for lazing on the beach..more than this, it is a nature lover's paradise. |
| 1913 Eng. Illustr. Mag. June 254 It is scarcely possible to find a mountain track or woody dell..which has not fascinated and inspired this *nature-loving poet. 1927 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation iv. 123 The *nature-mystic. 1958 Economist 8 Nov. Suppl. 11/1 Traherne was a visionary possessed of a powerful and discerning mind. To regard him as a lone eccentric or a pre-Romantic Nature-mystic is to under-estimate his stature as a Christian humanist. |
| 1899 W. R. Inge Christian Mysticism viii. 302 The true *Nature-Mysticism is prominent in St. Francis of Assisi. 1932 C. Williams Eng. Poetic Mind ii. 13 Wordsworth was..not ever writing a child's primer of Nature-mysticism; he left that to his commentators. |
| 1871 Tylor Prim. Cult. (1903) I. 284 Those most beautiful of poetic fictions, to which may be given the title of *Nature-Myths. 1954 E. E. Evans-Pritchard Inst. Primitive Society i. 4 Other anthropologists—if we may include Max Müller and the rest of the nature myth school under this heading—were busy explaining religion in terms of personification of such natural phenomena as sun, sky, and rain. |
| 1895 A. Nutt in K. Meyer's Voy. Bran I. 179 During the sway of the organised *nature-mythology. |
| 1960 P. H. Reaney Orig. Eng. Place-Names ii. 30 Farnborough ‘fern-clad hill’, Hertford, ‘stag-ford’..were originally *nature-names from which later settlements near-by took their names. |
| 1906 M. Cawein (title) *Nature-notes and impressions in prose and verse. 1937 Discovery Oct. 318 The marvellous journey of Domingo Gonsales..with its ingenious form of aerial transport and its lunar ‘nature notes’. |
| 1877 tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 24 The worship of spirits..and the doctrine of immortality are not developed any further among the Finns than among the *Nature-peoples. |
| 1855 G. Brimley Ess. 23 A sentimental *nature-philosophy and a pantheistical worship. |
| 1905 F. H. Shoosmith ‘Kingsley’ Nature Poetry Books 1 (heading) The ‘Kingsley’ *nature poems. 1946 ‘G. Orwell’ Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 1, I wrote bad and usually unfinished ‘nature poems’ in the Georgian style. |
| 1906 A. Mackie Nature Knowl. Mod. Poetry v. 55 (heading) Wordsworth as a *nature poet. 1925 A. Huxley Along Road i. 66 A ‘nature poet’ (the expression is somehow rather horrible, but there is no other). 1938 L. MacNeice Mod. Poetry i. 8 Rooted, as nature-poets should be, in their subject. |
| 1905 F. H. Shoosmith (title) The ‘Kingsley’ *nature poetry books for schools. 1936 F. R. Leavis Revaluation v. 186 ‘Nature poetry’, Victorian or Georgian, pays at the best only an equivocal tribute to his [sc. Wordsworth's] greatness. |
| 1865 Gladstone Farew. Addr. Edinb. Univ. 22 The absorption of Deity into mere *nature-power. |
| 1944 A. Thirkell Headmistress xi. 231 There would be a *Nature Ramble at a good brisk pace in Lord Pomfret's grounds. 1965 ‘O. Mills’ Dusty Death xi. 121 We used to..go to one of the cookery classes, or go on a nature ramble. |
| 1877 tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 6 A description of the so-called *nature-religions..is excluded from our design. |
| 1915 R. Lankester Diversions of Naturalist ii. 17 A society has been founded for the formation of ‘*nature-reserves’ in the British Islands. 1937 Handbk. Soc. Promotion of Nature Reserves 8 Woodwalton Fen, Huntingdonshire. This nature reserve..consists of about 360 acres of primitive fenland, a relic of the once extensive Huntingdonshire fens, and is rich in plant and insect life. 1949 Act 12 & 13 Geo. VI c. 97 §15 The expression ‘nature reserve’ means land managed for the purpose—(a) of providing..special opportunities for the study of, and research into, matters relating to the fauna and flora..or (b) of preserving flora, fauna or geological or physiographic features of special interest in the area. 1959 News Chron. 4 Dec. 7/6 A warden to see that building operations cause as little harm as possible to wild life and plants in what is left of the surrounding nature reserve. 1967 N. Freeling Strike Out 39 The sand dunes..have been made into a sort of nature-reserve. 1969 Times 3 Mar. 5/8 In a general discussion on establishing nature reserves on farms, the question of unrestricted access and possible vandalism clearly worried some farmers. 1972 Country Life 6 Jan. 22/3 Nature-reserve management. |
| 1932 V. E. Shelford in Ecology XIII. 202 Reports from the Advisory Board and other members of this committee showed them unanimously in favor of *nature sanctuaries to which only persons conducting scientific, artistic or literary work of a serious nature are to be admitted. Ibid., Nature sanctuaries should not be given publicity on account of the desire to visit them created thereby. 1972 Country Life 6 Apr. 838/3 Where..a marsh has been reclaimed, one cannot expect back-to-the-wilds compensation in the shape of a nature sanctuary. |
| 1871 Tylor Prim. Cult. (1903) II. 205 Here we must seek to realize to the utmost the definition of the *Nature-Spirits. |
| 1966 Baker Austral. Lang. (ed. 2) xvi. 344 *Nature strip, a strip of lawn beside the footpath outside Melbourne homes in ‘garden suburbs’. 1973 Listener 25 Jan. 118/1 The ground in front of the house—what the Australians call a ‘nature strip’. |
| 1902 Pall Mall Mag. Aug. 485 Few of these *nature-students are men of leisure. |
| 1896 L. C. Miall (title) Round the year. A series of short *nature-studies. 1897 J. H. Comstock (title) Insect life: an introduction to nature-study and a guide for teachers, students and others. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 683/1 The Nature-study Exhibition which was held at the Botanical Gardens, London, this autumn. 1928 D. Patton (title) Nature study for beginners. 1953 G. Bell Black Marigolds i. 19 Bugs got his nature study prize as expected. 1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek ii. 34 Alice taught Mary how to read and how to add up..and they did nature study and learnt about cavemen. |
| 1927 H. Crane Let. 12 Sept. (1965) 305 Pocahontas is the mythological *nature-symbol chosen to represent the physical body of the continent. Ibid. 307 The mother who died... Her succession to the nature-symbolism of Pocahontas. |
| 1926 F. E. Lutz (title) *Nature trails. 1927 58th Ann. Rep. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 1926 106 Dr. Frank E. Lutz,..has conducted for some time a Station for the Study of Insects, in Harriman State Park, near Tuxedo, N.Y. In connection with this outdoor station, in 1925 he established and developed a Nature Trail in the vicinity. Ibid. 107 This Nature Trail has been a wonderful stimulus to the present-day movement toward the emphasis of the outdoor museum and hundreds of nature trails have been made in various parts of the country, and also in foreign countries. 1950 W. Hillcourt Field Bk. Nature Activities 47 The best location for a nature trail is a park, a camp, a grove adjacent to the school grounds. 1963 Rep. Nature Conservancy vii. 103 During the [National Nature] Week the Conservancy set up Nature Trails at Castor Hanglands and Studland Heath National Nature Reserves. 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left iv. 23 All the work of..laying out nature trails had been undone. 1974 Country Life 14 Mar. 583/3 An excellent nature trail has been laid over this land. |
| 1932 R. Lehmann Invitation to Waltz i. vii. 80 She saw two figures..James and Miss Mivart, returning from their *nature walk. 1964 O. Blakeston Fingers i. 9 Drilling the catechism class..and giving the children a yearly ‘nature walk’ as a treat. |
| 1850 R. W. Mackay Progress of Intellect I. iii. 151 The elements of personification, as well as Pantheism, are in all *Nature-worship. 1869 J. Martineau Ess. II. 197 The sublime neutrality of our modern nature-worship. 1878 Maclear Celts ii. 28 Nature-worship, including the adoration of fountains and streams. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day vii. 147, I took up nature worship now because it was a poetic thing. |
| 1929 A. Huxley Do what you Will 158 St. Francis is often hailed as the first *nature-worshipper..in Europe since..the Greeks. 1946 Blunden Shelley 137 A seer and a nature-worshipper. |
| 1931 ― Votive Tablets 259 Some of the..*nature-writers mentioned above. 1969 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Jan. 61/1 Thomas's *nature writing was good of its kind and time. |
b. Attrib., passing into
adj. = ‘natural’; in later use only with reference to natural products, or to land producing these naturally (see Jamieson 1825,
s.v.).
Sc. exc. in
nature food.
| 1568 G. Skeyne The Pest (1860) 14 Quhilk..testifeis strenthe of nature helth. 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 178 Blood-bonds, nature-relations are mighty. 1762 Bp. Forbes Jrnl. (1886) 145 The rapid Spey forms a pleasant Bottom, rich with Corns and nature-Grass. ? 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Surv. Ayrsh. 291 (Jam.), When they see a field carpeted with rich grasses, or those that grow luxuriant, they say that field produces nature grasses. 1847 E. Walker Diary in C. M. Drury Elkanah & Mary Walker (1940) viii. 205 The year has been fruitful in nature food. 1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 5/6 He tended the children himself, using nature foods prescribed by Mr. Peter Dowling, a practising naturopath. |
c. Instrumental, as
nature-favoured,
nature-graced,
nature-hidden,
nature-taught; objective, as
nature-drowning,
nature-painting,
nature-shaking; parasynthetic, as
nature-hearted; similative, as
nature-like,
nature-true.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. Eden 197 The wreakfull *nature-drowning Flood Spar'd not this beauteous place. |
| 1885 Fortn. Waggonette 78 Two such *nature-favoured sons of Adam. |
| a 1618 Sylvester Maiden's Blush 73 Joseph.., Whome, *Nature-grac't, the Graces nurtur'd fine In liberall Arts. |
| 1839–48 Bailey Festus xx. 234 Kind *nature-hearted bards. |
| 1891 Atkinson Last of Giant-Killers 224 Such a self-concealing as well as *nature-hidden place. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 319/1 *Naturlyke, naif, genial, naturel. |
| 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. lvii, Of the fine stores he nothing would impart, Which or boon nature gave, or *nature-painting art. 1882 Grosart Spenser's Wks. III. p. liii, This..widens..the Nature-painting poetry of our language. |
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Trophies 674 Whose Hell-raking, *Nature-shaking Spell. |
| 1591 Ibid. i. iii. 379 O learned (*Nature-taught) Arithmetician! |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems I. 321 Even like my blossoms, if as *nature-true, Though not as precious. |
▪ II. ˈnature, v.1 [ad. OF. naturer (Godef.), or med.L. nātūrāre, f. nātūra nature n.] † 1. trans. To invest with a particular nature.
Obs.| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 97 He which natureth every kinde, The myhti god. |
2. intr. in
pres. pple. or
ppl. a.
naturing [after
med.L.
natura naturans]: Creative, and giving to each thing its specific nature. Also in
vbl. n. Obs. or
rare.| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxix. (Percy Soc.) 201 Tyll that dame Nature naturing had made All thinge to grow to theyr fortitude. 1519 Interl. Four Elem. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 11 The Perfection and First Cause of every thing, I mean that only high Nature naturing. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. ii. 5 Aristotle himselfe..calleth it naturam naturantem, naturing nature. 1694 R. Burthogge Reason 118 The unwary Expression of some..Theologizing Philosophers, who Denominated God Nature Naturing. 1880 G. M. Hopkins Note-bks. & Papers (1937) 312 The whole function, the naturing, the selving of that nature. |
▪ III. ˈnature, v.2 rare.
[f. nature n.] trans. a. To endow with a (new) nature.
b. To fix in one's nature, to make natural.
| 1857 J. Pulsford Quiet Hours Ser. i. 39 It is granted to us fallen men, to be born and natured anew, from the Eternal Word. 1890 J. H. Stirling Gifford Lect. v. 89 The patrimonial use and wont, and established manners, so to speak, natured in them. |