Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

nat·u·ral       (nāch'ər-əl, nāch'rəl)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   Present in or produced by nature: a natural pearl. Of, relating to, or concerning nature: a natural environment. Conforming to the usual or ordinary course of nature: a natural death. Not acquired; inherent: Love of power is natural to some people. Having a particular character by nature: a natural leader. Biology Not produced or changed artificially; not conditioned: natural immunity; a natural reflex. Related by blood: the natural parents of the child. Born of unwed parents: a natural child. Not sharped or flatted. Having no sharps or flats. Characterized by spontaneity and freedom from artificiality, affectation, or inhibitions. See Synonyms at naive. Not altered, treated, or disguised: natural coloring; natural produce. Faithfully representing nature or life. Expected and accepted: "In Willie's mind marriage remained the natural and logical sequence to love" (Duff Cooper). Established by moral certainty or conviction: natural rights. Being in a state regarded as primitive, uncivilized, or unregenerate. Related by blood: the natural parents of the child. Born of unwed parents: a natural child. Not sharped or flatted. Having no sharps or flats. Mathematics Of or relating to positive integers, sometimes including zero. Music Not sharped or flatted. Having no sharps or flats. n.   One having all the qualifications necessary for success: You are a natural for this job. One suited by nature for a certain purpose or function: She is a natural at mathematics. The sign () placed before a note to cancel a preceding sharp or flat. A note so affected. Music The sign () placed before a note to cancel a preceding sharp or flat. A note so affected. A yellowish gray to pale orange yellow. Games A combination in certain card and dice games that wins immediately. An Afro hairstyle. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin nātūrālis, from nātūra, nature; see nature.] nat'u·ral·ness n.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
natural 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

natural
adjective
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 musical note) being neither raised nor lowered by one chromatic semitone; "a natural scale"; "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"
7.	(used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes; "natural yogurt"; "natural produce"; "raw wool"; "raw sugar"; "bales of rude cotton"
8.	related by blood; not adopted
9.	being talented through inherited qualities; "a natural leader"; "a born musician"; "an innate talent"
10.	free from artificiality; "a lifelike pose"; "a natural reaction" [syn: lifelike]
noun
1.	someone regarded as certain to succeed; "he's a natural for the job"
2.	a notation cancelling a previous sharp or flat
3.	(craps) a first roll of 7 or 11 that immediately wins the stake

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

natural

see under big as life.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: nat·u·ral
Function: adjective
1 : based on an inherent sense of right and wrong <natural justice> —see also NATURAL LAW, NATURAL RIGHT
2 a : existing as part of or determined by nature natural condition of the land> b : being in accordance with or arising from nature esp. as distinguished from operation of law —see also NATURAL PERSON —compare ARTIFICIAL c : arising from the usual course of events natural result of the accident>
3 a : begotten as distinguished from adopted b : being a relation by consanguinity as distinguished from adoption <natural parents>
4 : ILLEGITIMATE natural child> —nat·u·ral·ly adverb

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Natural Bridge, NY Zip code(s): 13665

Natural Bridge, VA Zip code(s): 24578

Natural Dam, AR Zip code(s): 72948

Natural Bridge S, VA Zip code(s): 24579

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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; not artifical, 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.

With strong natural sense, and rare force of will. --Macaulay.

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.

What can be more natural than the circumstances in the behavior of those women who had lost their husbands on this fatal day? --Addison.

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.

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.

4. Conformed to truth or reality; as: (a) Springing from true sentiment; not artifical 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.

5. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.

To leave his wife, to leave his babes, . . . He wants the natural touch. --Shak.

6. Connected by the ties of consanguinity. "Natural friends." --J. H. Newman.

7. Begotten without the sanction of law; born out of wedlock; illegitimate; bastard; as, a natural child.

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.

The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. --1 Cor. ii. 14.

9. (Math.) Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some system, in which the base is 1; -- said or certain functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken in arcs whose radii are 1.

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. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).

Natural day, the space of twenty-four hours. --Chaucer.

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, incuding the sciences of botany, zo["o]logy, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, chemistry, and physics. In recent usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of botany and zo["o]logy 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; 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 and moral philosophy.

Natural scale (Mus.), a scale which is written without flats or sharps. 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, natural history, in its broadest sense; -- used especially in contradistinction to mental or moral science.

Natural selection (Biol.), a supposed operation of natural laws analogous, in its operation and results, to designed selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in the survival of the fittest. The theory of natural selection supposes that this has been brought about mainly by gradual changes of environment which have led to corresponding changes of structure, and that those forms which have become so modified as to be best adapted to the changed environment have tended to survive and leave similarly adapted descendants, while those less perfectly adapted have tended to die out though lack of fitness for the environment, thus resulting in the survival of the fittest. See Darwinism.

Natural system (Bot. & Zo["o]l.), 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.

Syn: See Native.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Natural

Nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), n. 1. A native; an aboriginal. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh.

2. pl. Natural gifts, impulses, etc. [Obs.] --Fuller.

3. One born without the usual powers of reason or understanding; an idiot. "The minds of naturals." --Locke.

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.