natura

See also: natură, natüra, and nátura

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [nəˈtu.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [naˈtu.ɾa]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uɾa

Noun

natura f (plural natures)

1. nature

Related terms

• natural

Further reading

• “natura”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūralbor.

Old French nature

Middle French nature

French naturebor.

▲

Old French naturebor.

Middle English nature

English naturebor.

▲

Latin nātūrabor.

Old High German natūra

Middle High German natūre

German Naturbor.

▲

Latin nātūralbor.

Polish naturabor.

▲

Latin nātūralbor.

Russian нату́ра (natúra)bor.

▲

Latin nātūralbor.

Old Spanish natura

Spanish naturabor.

▲

Latin nātūra

Italian naturabor.

▲

Latin nātūralbor.

Catalan naturabor.

▲

Latin nātūralbor.

Portuguese naturabor.

Esperanto naturo

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Italic *-ā

Latin -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Italian -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Old Spanish -a

Spanish -ader.

Esperanto -a

Esperanto natura

From naturo + -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtura/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ura
• Syllabification: na‧tu‧ra

Adjective

natura (accusative singular naturan, plural naturaj, accusative plural naturajn)

1. natural

   Antonyms: kontraŭnatura, nenatura

Further reading

• “natura”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “natura”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Galician

Alternative forms

• netura

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese natura, borrowed from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtura̝/

Noun

natura f (plural naturas)

1. vulva of a female mammal
2. nature
3. manner, way
4. essence
5. (archaic) type, kind, lineage

Related terms

• natural
• naturalmente
• natureza

References

• “natura”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “natura”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “natura”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “natura”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “natura”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “natura”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

From Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ura
• Hyphenation: na‧tù‧ra

Noun

natura f (plural nature)

1. nature
2. essence, character

Usage notes

• pagamento in natura, which in the past used to refer to paying one's debts and taxes by using produce and cattle, is now almost entirely understood as a euphemism to mean payment through sexual favours.

Related terms

• nascere
• natura morta
• naturaccia
• naturale
• naturare
• naturismo
• naturista

Ladin

Noun

natura f (plural natures)

1. nature

Ladino

Etymology

From Old Spanish natura, borrowed from Latin nātūra (compare Spanish natura).

Noun

natura f (Hebrew spelling נאטורה)

1. nature

Related terms

• natural

Latin

Pronunciation

• nātūra:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [naːˈtuː.ra]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [naˈtuː.ra]
• nātūrā:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [naːˈtuː.raː]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [naˈtuː.ra]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūra

From nāscor (“be born”) + -tūra.

Noun

nātūra f (genitive nātūrae); first declension

1. the nature, quality, substance or essence of a thing

   Synonyms: habitus, ingenium, charactēr

2. character, temperament, inclination, disposition

   Synonyms: mēns, indolēs, charactēr

3. nature, the natural world
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior De Senectute 2.4:

     Quibus enim nihil est in ipsīs opīs ad bene beātēque vīvendum, eīs omnis aetās gravis est; quī autem omnia bona ā sē ipsī petunt, eīs nihil malum potest vidērī quod nātūrae necessitās adferat.

     For those who possess no internal resources for a good and happy life, every stage of existence is a burden. However, for those who seek all blessings from within themselves, nothing that the necessity of nature brings can appear to be an evil.

   • Nātūra non facit saltūs

     Nature does not make leaps.

4. penis, organs of generation, the natural parts
   • Apuleius, The Golden Ass, translated P.G. Walsh

     nec ūllum miserae refōrmātiōnis videō sōlācium, nisi quod mihi iam nequeuntī tenēre Photidem nātūra crēscēbat.

     The sole consolation I could see in this wretched transformation was the swelling of my penis - though now I could not embrace Photis.

5. (rare) birth

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	nātūra	nātūrae
genitive	nātūrae	nātūrārum
dative	nātūrae	nātūrīs
accusative	nātūram	nātūrās
ablative	nātūrā	nātūrīs
vocative	nātūra	nātūrae

Related terms

• nātūrābilis
• nātūrālis
• nātūrālitās
• nātūrāliter

Descendants

Inherited forms meaning "vagina":

• Franco-Provençal: [ɲyra], [ˈnɔːra], [ˈɲœːrə]
• Romansh: nadüra, nadira

Borrowings meaning "nature":

• → Albanian: natyrë
• → Catalan: natura
• → Irish: nádúr
• → Italian: natura
• → Occitan: natura
• → Old French: nature
  • Middle French: nature
    • French: nature
  • → Middle Dutch: nature (see there for further descendants)
  • → Middle English: nature (see there for further descendants)
    • English: nature
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: natura
  • Galician: natura
• → Old Spanish: natura
  • Ladino: natura (Latin spelling), נאטורה (Hebrew spelling)
  • Spanish: natura
• → Polish: natura
• → Portuguese: natura
• → Romanian: natură
• → Romansh: natüra
• → Russian: нату́ра (natúra)
• → Sicilian: natura
• → Swedish: natur

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “nātūra”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 7: N–Pas, page 45

Further reading

• “natura”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “natura”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "natura", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to die a natural death: debitum naturae reddere (Nep. Reg. 1)
    
  • to devote oneself to the study of a natural science: se conferre ad naturae investigationem
    
  • innate goodness, kindness: naturae bonitas (Off. 1. 32. 118)
    
  • natural advantages: naturae bona
    
  • (ambiguous) creation; nature: rerum natura or simply natura
    
  • (ambiguous) climate: caelum or natura caeli
    
  • (ambiguous) the natural position of a place: natura loci
    
  • (ambiguous) natural gifts: natura et ingenium
    
  • (ambiguous) to do a thing which is not one's vocation, which goes against the grain: adversante et repugnante natura or invitā Minervā (ut aiunt) aliquid facere (Off. 1. 31. 110)
    
  • (ambiguous) to have a natural propensity to vice: natura proclivem esse ad vitia
    
  • (ambiguous) character: natura et mores; vita moresque; indoles animi ingeniique; or simply ingenium, indoles, natura, mores
    
  • (ambiguous) Nature has implanted in all men the idea of a God: natura in omnium animis notionem dei impressit (N. D. 1. 16. 43)
    
  • (ambiguous) to reconnoitre the ground: loca, regiones, loci naturam explorare
    
  • (ambiguous) a town with a strong natural position: oppidum natura loci munitum (B. G. 1. 38)
    
• “natura”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

nātūrā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of nātūrō

Maltese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūra

Italian naturabor.

Maltese natura

Borrowed from Italian natura.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtuː.ra/
• Rhymes: -uːra

Noun

natura f (plural naturi)

1. nature
2. disposition
3. (euphemistic) genitals

Related terms

• natural
• naturalezza (naturalizza)
• naturali
• naturalista
• naturalistiku
• naturaliżmu
• naturalizzazzjoni
• naturalment
• nnaturalizza (naturalizza)

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nātūra. Compare Old Spanish and Old Occitan natura.

Noun

natura f (plural naturas)

1. nature, essence (essential characteristics)

   Synonym: natureza

2. lineage

Related terms

• irmão (through PIE)
• nacença
• nacer
• nada
• nado
• Natal
• natural
• natureza

Descendants

• Galician: natura

Further reading

• Universo Cantigas - "natura"

Old Occitan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Noun

natura f (nominative singular natura)

1. nature

Related terms

• natural

Old Spanish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtuɾa/

Noun

natura f (plural naturas)

1. nature, quality
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 7v:

     […] aquella tierra o son falladas otras piedras de muchas naturas ⁊ muy nobles de que fablaremos adelante en eſte libro […]

     […] that land where other stones with many and very noble natures are found, of which we will speak later in this book […]

   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 45r:

     De natura es fria et ſeca. ⁊ las ſus uertudes son contrarias a ſu natura. […]

     And it is cold and dry in nature, and its virtues are contrary to its nature; […]

2. (anatomy) vulva, female genitals
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 9r:

     Et aun a otra uertud muy eſtranna. que ſi la molierẽ ⁊ la amaſſaren cõ uino ⁊ fizierẽ della como bellota. ⁊ la puſieren en la natura dela mugier, uieda que no enprenne.

     And it has yet another very strange virtue; that if it were to be ground and mixed with wine and shaped like an acorn, and put inside the vulva of the woman, it would prevent her from not becoming pregnant.

Related terms

• natural

Descendants

• Ladino: natura (Latin spelling), נאטורה (Hebrew spelling)
• Spanish: natura

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

• natüra

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtyra/

Noun

natura f (plural nature)

1. nature

Polish

Alternative forms

• nátura (Przemyśl)
• matura (Podegrodzie)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūralbor.

Polish natura

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ura
• Syllabification: na‧tu‧ra

Noun

natura f

1. nature (entirety of the natural world)

   Synonym: przyroda

2. nature (key characteristics of something or something's natural behavior)

   On jest dość miły z natury. ― He's quite nice by nature.

Declension

Declension of natura

	singular
nominative	natura
genitive	natury
dative	naturze
accusative	naturę
instrumental	naturą
locative	naturze
vocative	naturo

Derived terms

adjectives

• antynaturalistyczny
• nadnaturalny
• naturalistyczny
• naturalny
• naturystyczny

adverbs

• nadnaturalnie
• naturalistycznie
• naturalnie

nouns

• antynaturalizm
• druga natura
• nadnaturalność
• naturalia
• naturalista
• naturalistka
• naturalizacja
• naturalizm
• naturalność
• naturoterapeuta
• naturszczyk
• naturysta
• naturystka
• naturyzm
• prawo natury

verbs

• naturalizować
• znaturalizować

Further reading

• “natura”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “natura”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūralbor.

Portuguese natura

Learned borrowing from Latin nātūra. Compare Galician and Old Galician-Portuguese natura.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /nɐˈtu.ɾɐ/

Noun

natura f (plural naturas)

1. (poetic) nature

   Synonym: natureza

Derived terms

• contranatura

Further reading

• “natura”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “natura”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Sicilian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtu.ɾa/, [naˈtu.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -ura
• Hyphenation: na‧tù‧ra

Noun

natura f (plural naturi)

1. nature, quality, substance or essence of a thing

   Synonym: caràttiri

2. character, temperament, inclination, disposition

   Synonym: caràttiri

3. the natural world

   Synonym: munnu

4. (rare) birth

   Synonym: nàscita

Related terms

• naaturalimenti
• naruràvili
• naturali
• naturalitati
• naturalità
• naturalizza

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti

Proto-Italic *gnāskōrder.

Latin nāscor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin nātūralbor.

Old Spanish natura

Spanish natura

Inherited from Old Spanish natura, a learned borrowing from Latin nātūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈtuɾa/ [naˈt̪u.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -uɾa
• Syllabification: na‧tu‧ra

Noun

natura f (plural naturas)

1. (literary, rare) nature

   Synonym: naturaleza

Derived terms

• a natura
• contra natura
• de natura
• lo que natura no da, Salamanca no presta

Verb

natura

1. inflection of naturar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “natura”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “natura”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

• “natura”, in Diccionario del estudiante [Dictionary of the Student] (in Spanish), third edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2016

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin in natura, used since the 17th century.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -²ʉːra

Noun

natura c (uncountable)

1. in-kind (non-monetary payment), most often used in the adverbial postfix phrase in natura, sometimes i natura, and in compounds

   betalning i natura ― in-kind payment

Usage notes

• The form "i natura," which is only mentioned in SAOB, appears to be more common in practice when comparing "lön i/in natura" and "betalt i/in natura" on Google.
• Often (jocularly) of being paid in sexual favors, especially in the form "betalt i(n) natura."

Related terms

• naturaförmån
• naturahushållning
• naturalön
• naturaväghållning

References

• “natura”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “natura”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “natura”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)