natural magic

1. The art of working wonders by a superior knowledge of the powers of nature
2. The power of investing a work of art with an atmosphere of imagination
3. Sleight of hand

sympathetic magic

Magic aiming at the production of effects by mimicry, such as bringing rain by libations, or injuring a person by melting or sticking pins in his or her image

white magic

Magic without the aid of the Devil

natural /nachˈ(ə-)rəl/

adjective

1. Relating to, produced by or according to nature, to the natural world or human nature
2. Provided by or based on nature
3. Not miraculous or supernatural
4. Not the work of humans, not artificial
5. Not interfered with by humans
6. Inborn, innate, inherent
7. Having the feelings that may be expected to come by nature, kindly
8. Normal
9. Happening in the usual course
10. Spontaneous
11. Not far-fetched
12. Not acquired
13. Without affectation
14. Not fictitious
15. Physical, esp as opposed to spiritual or intellectual
16. Lifelike, like nature
17. Based on an innate moral sense, innate reason or instinct rather than revelation
18. Related by actual birth (not adoption, etc)
19. Hence (now rare) legitimate
20. (now usu) illegitimate
21. Natural-born, or having the status of the natural-born
22. In a state of nature, unregenerate
23. (of classification) according to ancestral relationships (biology)
24. According to the usual diatonic scale, not sharp or flat (music)
25. Of a buff colour, like undyed or unbleached fabric
26. (of a playing card) not being a joker or a wild card
27. (of a sequence of cards) containing no wild cards

noun

1. Someone having a natural aptitude (for), or being an obvious choice (for)
2. A thing assured by its very nature of success, a certainty
3. A tone that is neither sharp nor flat (music)
4. A character (♮) cancelling a preceding sharp or flat (music)
5. A white key in keyboard musical instruments
6. A buff colour
7. Two cards making 21 dealt to a player as his or her first hand in pontoon
8. An idiot (obsolete)

natˈuralism noun

1. The following of nature
2. A close following of nature without idealization (esp in art)
3. The theory that this should be the aim of art and literature, esp the form of realism advocated or practised by Emile Zola
4. A world-view that rejects the supernatural and spiritual and explains the world in terms of natural influences and forces, and cause and effect
5. Any religious or moral system based on this
6. The belief that natural religion is of itself sufficient
7. Deism
8. Any action based on natural desires and instincts

natˈuralist noun

1. Someone who studies nature, more particularly zoology and botany, esp zoology, and esp in the field
2. A dealer in live animals and articles of use and interest to students of nature, often a taxidermist
3. A believer in naturalism

naturalistˈic adjective

Relating to or in accordance with nature, natural history or naturalism

naturalistˈically adverb

naturalīzāˈtion or naturalīsāˈtion noun

natˈuralize or natˈuralise transitive verb

1. To grant the privileges of natural-born citizens to
2. To cause (an introduced species of plant, animal, etc) to adapt to a different climate or to different conditions of life
3. To adopt into the language
4. To admit among accepted institutions, usages, etc
5. To make natural or easy
6. To explain naturalistically

intransitive verb

1. To acquire citizenship in another country
2. To study natural history in the field
3. (of a plant, animal, etc) to adapt to a new environment

natˈurally adverb

1. In a natural manner
2. By nature
3. According to nature or one's own nature
4. In a lifelike manner
5. Normally
6. In the ordinary course
7. Of course

natˈuralness noun

natural abundance noun (physics)

Same as abundance

natural background noun

The radiation due to natural radioactivity and to cosmic rays, enhanced by contamination and fallout

natˈural-born adjective

Native

natural childbirth noun

Childbirth with as little medical intervention, esp as little anaesthesia, etc as possible, relying on the mother doing special breathing and relaxation exercises

natural classification see natural system below.

natural cycle IVF noun

IVF (qv) in which the woman is allowed to ovulate naturally rather than being given drugs to stimulate ovulation

natural death noun

Death owing to disease or old age, not violence or accident

natural frequency noun

1. The frequency at which an object or system will vibrate freely in the absence of external forces (physics)
2. The frequency at which resonance occurs in a circuit (elec)

natural gas noun

Gases issuing from the earth, whether from natural fissures or bored wells, applied particularly to the hydrocarbon gases associated with the production of petroleum and used as domestic or industrial fuel in place of town gas (see also North Sea gas under north)

natural historian noun

natural history noun

Orig the description of all that is in nature, now used of the sciences that deal with the earth and its productions, ie botany, zoology and mineralogy, esp field zoology

natural immunity noun

That level of immunity with which a person is born (cf acquired immunity)

natural killer cell noun

A naturally occurring lymphoid cell which attacks and destroys tumour cells and some virally infected cells in the absence of prior immunization and without evident antigen specificity

natural language noun

A language which has evolved naturally, opp to artificial language

natural law noun

1. A law of nature
2. The sense of right and wrong which arises from the constitution of the human mind, as distinguished from the results of revelation or legislation

natural logarithm noun

One to the base e

natural magic see under magic

natural numbers plural noun

The whole numbers 1, 2, 3 and upwards, sometimes also including 0

natural order noun

(in botany) a category now usually called a family

natural philosopher noun

natural philosophy noun

1. The science of the physical properties of bodies
2. Physics, or physics and dynamics

natural radioactivity noun

Radioactivity that is found in nature

natural religion see natural theology below.

natural resources plural noun

Features, properties, etc of the land such as minerals, an abundance of water, timber, etc that occur naturally and can be exploited by human beings

natural scale noun

A scale of music written without sharps or flats

natural science noun

The science of nature, as distinguished from mental and moral science and from mathematics

natural selection noun

Evolution by the survival of the fittest with inheritance of their fitness by the next generation

natural system or natural classification noun

A classification of plants and animals according to presumed relationship by descent, distinguished in botany from the artificial system of Linnaeus

natural theology or natural religion noun

Religion derived from reasoned facts, not revelation

natural therapy noun

Treatment based on the ability of the body to heal itself

natural virtues plural noun

Those virtues (esp justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude) of which people are capable

natural wastage noun

(reduction of staff by) non-replacement of those who leave, eg through retirement

natural year see under year