Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “natural” come from?

Natural comes from Middle English natural, from Old French natural, from Latin naturalis, formed from Latin nascor meaning to be born, with the suffix -alis.

natural (English): That exists and evolved within the confines of an...

Definitions

  1. That exists and evolved within the confines of an...

Ancestry of “natural”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnaturalintrinsic, fundamental, basic; relating to...
2Old Frenchnaturalnatural
3Latinnātūrālis—
4Latinnātūra—
5Latinnātus—
6Latingnātus—
7Proto-Italicgnātos—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanǵn̥h₁tósbegotten, produced
9Proto-Indo-Europeanǵenh₁-to produce, to beget, to give birth

Words derived from “natural”

  • naturalist
  • naturalistic
  • naturalism
  • naturalistically
  • nonnatural
  • connatural
  • seminatural
  • supranatural
  • connaturality
  • nonnaturalistic
  • antinatural
  • supranaturalistic
  • antinaturalistic
  • antinaturalist
  • unnaturalistic
  • nonnaturalist
  • nonnaturalism
  • antinaturalism
  • postnatural
  • subnatural
  • connaturally
  • contranatural
  • hypernatural
  • supranaturalist
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- →