Etymology

nature

na·ture
N1A1T1U1R1E1

Today it means: The way things are, the totality of all things in the physical universe and their order, especially the physical world in contrast to spiritual realms and flora and fauna as distinct from human conventions, art, and technology. Full definition →

Middle English nature ← Old French nature ← Latin nātūra
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁-sḱé-ti
  3. Proto-Italic*gnāskōr
  4. Latinnāscor
  5. Latinnātūra
  6. Old Frenchnature
  7. Middle Englishnature
  8. English todaynature

From Middle English nature, natur, from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra (“birth, origin, natural constitution or quality”), future participle from perfect passive participle (g)natus (“born”), from deponent verb (g)nasci (“to be born, originate”) + future participle suffix -urus. Displaced native Middle English erd (“character, nature, disposition”) from Old English eard (compare German Art (“nature, character, kind, type”)); and Middle English kynde (“character, disposition, nature”) from Old English ġecynd. More at kind. Also displaced native Old English hād (“nature, manner”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.