natal

N1A1T1A1L1
/ˈneɪtəl/

adjective

Of or relating to birth.

“Sea turtles return to their natal beaches to nest.”

OriginMiddle English natal ← Latin nātālis ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? →
CommonScrabble 5
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Meanings

natal1

adjective
  1. Of or relating to birth.

    Sea turtles return to their natal beaches to nest.

    1 more example

    The constituents of the nation are a land and a people: the "natal", which is not necessarily innate, and the "popular," which is not necessarily pregiven.

    1987, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus, page 456

natal2

adjectivenatal (comparative more natal, superlative most natal)

comparative more natal · superlative most natal

  1. biologyOf or relating to the buttocks.

Natal3

proper noun
  1. A former British colony in modern South Africa, existing from 1843 to 1910.
  2. A former province of South Africa, reorganized in 1994 into the modern province of KwaZulu-Natal.
  3. A municipality, the state capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Synonyms & antonyms

Narrower
antenatalneonatalperinatalpostnatalprenatalpuerperal
Narrower
antenatalneonatalperinatalpostnatalprenatalpuerperal

Origin

natal · adjective

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁tós
  3. Proto-Italic*gnātos
  4. Latingnātus
  5. Latinnātus
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  8. Latinnātālis
  9. Middle Englishnatal
  10. Englishnatal

From Middle English natal, natale (“native, one’s own; inherited; presiding over birthdays or births”), from Classical Latin nātālis (“natal”), from nātus, perfect active participle of nāscor (“to be born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of nada, Natal, née, and Noel.

More words from Middle English, Classical Latin, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

natal · adjective

From Classical Latin natis (“rump”) + -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Natal · proper noun

  1. PortugueseNatal“Christmas”
  2. EnglishNatal

From Portuguese Natal (“Christmas”), because the region in South Africa was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama on Christmas Day, 1497. Doublet of nada, natal, née, and Noel.

More words from Portuguese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian родилен, седалищен
  • родилен (rodilen)of or relating to birth
  • седалищен (sedališten)of or relating to the buttocks
Chinese Mandarin 納塔爾 /纳塔尔
  • 納塔爾 /纳塔尔former British colony
Esperanto puga
  • pugaof or relating to the buttocks
Finnish syntymä-
  • syntymä-of or relating to birth
French natal
  • natalof or relating to birth
Korean 나탈
  • 나탈 (natal)former British colony
Lithuanian Natalis
  • Natalisformer British colony
Polish urodzeniowy, pośladkowy
  • urodzeniowyof or relating to birth
  • pośladkowyof or relating to the buttocks
Portuguese natal, Natal
  • natalof or relating to birth
  • Natalformer British colony
Romanian natal, de naștere
  • natalof or relating to birth
  • de naștereof or relating to birth
Spanish natal
  • natalof or relating to birth

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with natal

fatalGretelpalatalratelsheitel
All rhymes →

Anagrams

natla
Cite this entry
APA

natal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natal

MLA

“natal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natal. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “natal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natal.

Source: natal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.