Nature, etymology and definitions

Nature, affinity and living, three words;

by connecting them we are creating word webs.

Nature

na-ture (noun); First appeared 14th Century

Etymology: [Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin; natura, from natus, past participle of nasci, to be born -- from which comes the word NATION]

1: intrinsic quality.

a : the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing : ESSENCE
b : DISPOSITION, TEMPERAMENT

2: forces or powers.

a : a creative and controlling force in the universe
b : an inner force or the sum of such forces in an individual

3 : a kind or class usually distinguished by fundamental or essential characteristics: documents of a confidential ~> or acts of a ceremonial ~> nature, implying character

4 : the physical constitution or drives of an organism; especially : an excretory organ or function -- used in phrases like the call of nature

5 : a spontaneous attitude (as of generosity)

6 : the external world in its entirety;

Theo Colburn Home Page Our Stolen Future

7: condition

a : humankind's original or natural condition
b : a simplified mode of life resembling this condition

8 : the genetically controlled qualities of an organism

9 : natural scenery; NatureNet:The National Park Service's Natural History page

For synonyms see:

TYPE, EXISTENCE, REALITY, CREATION, ORDER, ESSENCE, CHARACTER, or WORLD

Contemporary Related ideas:

force of nature. First appeared 1981: FORCE

Historically Related ideas:

Mother Nature (noun). First appeared 1601

: nature personified as a woman considered as the source and guiding force of creation.

Related ideas: human nature (noun). First appeared 1668
: the nature of humans; especially : the fundamental dispositions and traits of humans

Related ideas: call of nature. First appeared 1763: the need to urinate or defecate

Related ideas: crime against nature. First appeared 1828: SODOMY

Related ideas: freak of nature. First appeared 1883: FREAK

RELATED CONCEPTS:

natural history (noun). First appeared 1567.

1 : a treatise on some aspect of nature
2 : the natural development of something (as an organism or disease) over a period of time
3 : the study of natural objects esp. in the field from an amateur or popular point of view

Related ideas: naturalist, nat-u-ral-ist (noun). First appeared 1587

1 : one that advocates or practices naturalism

2 : a student of natural history; especially : a field biologist

Affinity

Based on an old concept of the Middle Ages: affinity (Aristotle’s connatural knowledge)
af-fin-i-ty (noun), plural -ties, First appeared 14th Century

Etymology: [Middle English affinite, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French afinite, from Latin affinitas, from affinis bordering on, related by marriage, from ad- + finis end, border]

RELATED to:

1 : relationship by marriage.

2: attraction or complementarity.

a : sympathy marked by community of interest : KINSHIP
b (1) : an attraction to or liking for something <people with an ~ to darkness --Mark Twain> <pork and fennel have a natural ~ for each other --Abby Mandel>
(2) : an attractive force between substances or particles that causes them to enter into and remain in chemical combination
c : a person esp. of the opposite sex having a particular attraction for one.

For a synonym see ATTRACTION

3: connection. link or ties.

a : likeness based on relationship or causal connection <found an ~ between the teller of a tale and the craftsman --Mary McCarthy> <this investigation, with affinities to a case history, a psychoanalysis, a detective story --Oliver Sachs>
b : a relation between biological groups involving resemblance in structural plan and indicating a common origin.

Nature has an affinity to living things:

living; liv-ing [1] (adjective) First appeared before 12th Century

1. creating an affect

a : having life
b : ACTIVE, FUNCTIONING <~ languages>

2. signal or indicator

a : exhibiting the life or motion of nature : NATURAL <the wilderness is a ~ museum ... of natural history --NEA Jour.>
b : [2]LIVE as opposed to dead, hence breathing or responding to stimulus.

3. vital

a : full of life or vigor,

b: Carrying Capacity, or the fullness of life exhibited in an area.

LESSON or moral -
So nature is more than complex: G. Hardin reminds us that:

"The natural world is organized into a web of life more complex than we know."

(p. 23, Filters Against Folly, (NY: Viking,-Penguin, 1985).

See TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS