Natural

How to spell natural

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce natural

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does natural mean?

1. adjectiveExisting in or produced by nature, not artificial or made by people.

Natural in a sentence

• The lotion contains only natural ingredients with no added chemicals.

• Daylight gives the room a soft, natural glow that lamps cannot match.

Where does natural come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin naturalis, meaning 'given by birth' or 'belonging to the inborn order of things'. That adjective was built on natura, 'nature' or 'the course of things', which in turn grew from the verb nasci, meaning 'to be born'. English took it through Old French naturel during the 1300s, at first describing whatever exists by birth rather than by human design. The same nasci root still sits inside everyday relatives such as 'native', 'nation', and 'nativity', all of which circle back to the idea of being born. For spellers the trap is the soft, almost swallowed middle: the '-tur-' is pronounced like 'chur', so writers are tempted to drop a letter or guess at the vowel that follows the 't'.

How the word is built

• nat- (from nasci: to be born)
• -ur- (from natura: nature)
• -al (adjective suffix)