nat

plural nats

1. A spirit in Burmese mythology, whose cult is followed alongside Buddhism.

   They greatly dread evil "Nats" or spirits, to whom they attribute every possible misfortune or illness.

   1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 175

1. not comparableobsoleteNot.First known use 14th–17th c.

   And he a pistle rowned in her eare, / Nat what I want, for I ne came nat there.

   1614, William Browne, The Shepheard's Pipe

plural nats

1. A logarithmic unit of information or entropy, based on natural logarithms.

   Synonyms: nit, nepit

plural nats

1. USabbreviationclippingcolloquialClipping of natatorium.

1. abbreviationclippingnot comparableslangroleplaying gamesdiceClipping of natural (“pertaining to a dice roll before bonuses or penalties have been applied to the result”).

   After rolling a Strength check to move a heavy cabinet, I got a nat 1 and the cabinet fell on me.

   3 more examples

   in the Dark Sun campaign I'm playing in, the DM handles crits/fumbles this way: Natural 20: an excellent attack, player gets a bonus attack, if he gets another Nat. 20, he gets a 3rd attack, and so on.

   1992 October 5, Jordan M. Wolbrum, “Critical Hits”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet)

   Almost killed my cleric mage when she was juggling with another bard...missed the juggling check, rolled a nat 20 on the to-hit roll, and rolled maximum damage...and said cleric-mage was already wounded, and recuperating...8P

   1995 September 21, Deanna Hatter, “How to roll d16 in level distribution?”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet)

   But she continued. "I do a Survival check to see if there are any worm people in these puddles... and roll a nat twenty!"

   2022, Shelly Mazzanoble, Welcome to Dragon Talk: Inspiring Conversations About Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Love to Play It, Iowa City, I.A.: University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, page 56

plural nats

1. abbreviationclippingClipping of nationalist.

1. abbreviationgovernmentAbbreviation of National Party.
2. abbreviationaeronauticsAbbreviation of North Atlantic Tracks.
3. PhilippinesabbreviationinitialismeducationInitialism of National Achievement Test.

plural NATs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebiologyInitialism of nucleic acid test.
2. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablecomputingAcronym of network address translation (“network address rewriting”).
3. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablecomputingAcronym of network address translator (“device that implements that network function; a NAT firewall”).
4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of nonaccidental trauma.
5. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of negative automatic thoughts.

plural Nats

1. A unisex given name.
   1. countableuncountableA diminutive of the male given name Nathanael, Nathaniel, Nathan.

      Nathan was one of the tiniest, tottering along, holding on to the hand of a much older girl. Nat. Small like a gnat.

      2008, Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 27

   2. countableuncountableA diminutive of the female given name Natasha, Natalie, Natalia.
   3. countableuncountableNickname for Natsuki from the video game Doki Doki Literature Club!.
2. countableuncountableA surname.

plural Nats

1. AustralianinformalslanggovernmentA member or supporter of the Australian National Party.
2. New ZealandinformalslanggovernmentA member or supporter of the New Zealand National Party.
3. UKinformalslanggovernmentA member or supporter of the Scottish National Party.
4. South AfricandatedinformalslanggovernmentA member or supporter of the National Party of South Africa.