by nature
54
4.1
- idiom
:
por naturaleza
- These issues are by nature large scale and complex.
- human beings by nature
- humans by nature
- man by nature
I'm optimistic because I think people by nature are good.
- I'm optimistic because I think people by nature are good.
- Any idea that can't withstand criticism by nature is not a good idea.
- And yeah, human beings just by nature want to be loved.
- And so humans by nature are selfish.
- But you know, producers are predatory by nature, and sorry, but they are.
- And so I'm just a fighter by nature.
- Would you say you're a planner in life by nature or more spontaneous?
- An empath by nature makes excuses for people.
- And, and Lois is an incredibly upbeat, cheerful person by nature.
- Rather, we are by nature able to acquire them.
Examples
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And so humans by nature are selfish.
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We are all born in society, and by nature we are social.
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So sugar by nature is sweet and water by nature is liquid.
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I'm optimistic because I think people by nature are good.
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Human beings are by nature meant to live in a polis.
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Human beings are good by nature because they are not qualitatively unlike the rest of nature.
Academic text (1997) -
Now Aristotle says that human beings are by nature political or social creatures.
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I'm a wary person, cautious by nature.
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You see, l'm a traveler by nature.
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I believe that people are, by nature, good.
Synonyms
144
1.8
Because of a person's usual character, not outside influence
22
6.4
Part of the basic nature of something
8
5.6
In a natural way that someone has from birth
1
7.3
In a way that is a natural part of someone's character
A French word used in English to mean of course
Antonyms
How Innate
Surface Forms
Morphology
by + nature
The meaning 'because of one's inherent character' is directly compositional: 'by' signals cause/agentive relation and 'nature' refers to innate character, so the MWE's sense is predictable from its parts. This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'por naturaleza'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
By nature comes from the image of the natural world and things you are born with, like an animal's colour or behaviour. So saying someone is by nature 'generous' or 'cautious' means they act that way because of who they are.