na ‧ ture S1 W1 /ˈneɪtʃə $ -tʃər/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ nature , ↑ naturalist , ↑ naturalism , ↑ naturalization , ↑ naturalness , the supernatural, ↑ natural , ↑ naturist , ↑ naturism ; adverb : ↑ naturally ≠ ↑ unnaturally , ↑ naturalistically , ↑ supernaturally ; adjective : ↑ natural ≠ ↑ unnatural , ↑ supernatural , ↑ naturalistic ; verb : ↑ naturalize ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: French ; Origin: Latin natura , from natus ; ⇨ ↑ nation ]
1 . PLANTS/ANIMALS ETC [uncountable] ( also Nature ) everything in the physical world that is not controlled by humans, such as wild plants and animals, earth and rocks, and the weather:
We grew up in the countryside, surrounded by the beauties of nature.
nature conservation
the laws/forces of nature
The inhabitants of the island fight a constant battle against the forces of nature.
in nature
All these materials are found in nature.
Disease is nature’s way of keeping the population down.
2 . SB’S CHARACTER [uncountable and countable] someone’s character:
a child with a happy, easy-going nature
sb’s nature
It’s just not in Jane’s nature to lie.
by nature
She was by nature a very affectionate person.
I tried appealing to his better nature (=his feelings of kindness) but he wouldn’t agree to help us.
Of course she’s jealous – it’s only human nature (=the feelings and ways of behaving that all people have) .
3 . QUALITIES OF SOMETHING [singular, uncountable] the qualities or features that something has
nature of
They asked a lot of questions about the nature of our democracy.
He examined the nature of the relationship between the two communities.
exact/precise/true nature
The exact nature of the problem is not well understood.
different/political/temporary etc in nature
Any government funding would be temporary in nature.
Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable.
4 . TYPE [singular] a particular kind of thing
of a personal/political/difficult etc nature
The support being given is of a practical nature.
of this/that nature
I never trouble myself with questions of that nature.
5 . in the nature of things according to the natural way things happen:
In the nature of things, there is bound to be the occasional accident.
6 . be in the nature of something formal to be similar to a type of thing:
The enquiry will be more in the nature of a public meeting than a formal hearing.
7 . against nature not natural, and morally wrong:
They believe that suicide is against nature.
8 . let nature take its course to allow events to happen without doing anything to change the results:
The best cure for a cold is to let nature take its course.
9 . back to nature a style of living in which people try to live simply and not use modern machines:
city workers who want to get back to nature in their holidays
⇨ be/become second nature (to somebody) at ↑ second 1 (10), ⇨ the call of nature at ↑ call 2 (12)