Meanings
alternative praeternature
- rareuncountableThe realm beyond the natural; the preternatural.First known use 19th c.
In my own heart there dwells no faith in preter-nature.
1842, Edgar Allan Poe, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt1 more example
We can speak here too, then, of pressure and, indeed, encroachment by the category of preternature on territory previously occupied by the miraculous.
1997, Stuart Clark, Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, page 263
Origin
From preter- + nature, after preternatural.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French préternature
- préternatureTranslations
Cite this entry
preternature. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preternature
“preternature.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preternature. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preternature,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preternature.
Source: preternature on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.