natural endowment
- noun
:
don natural
- Her exceptional musical talent is a natural endowment that she has had since childhood.
Examples
-
The reason for this is obvious: Physical beauty is a natural endowment.
Academic text (2008) -
Self-discipline thus becomes the key to social mobility, enabling an individual to make up for a physical deficiency or maximize the potential of a natural endowment (Lawal 2005).
Academic text (2008) -
Many athletes attribute their success to a natural endowment for sports, which they developed over time.
-
His ability to solve complex mathematical problems is a natural endowment that sets him apart from his peers.
Synonyms
866
1.2
An ability someone has naturally to do something well
585
1.8
A natural ability to do something well, like music or languages
42
4.2
A natural talent for learning or doing something well
12
2.9
An ability someone is born with to do something well
9
3.4
A natural ability that is strong but not yet trained
8
3.4
A talent someone is born with that they do not learn
6
6.4
A natural quality or ability someone is born with
A natural ability present from birth in people or animals
Antonyms
How Talented
Surface Forms
Morphology
natural + endowment
The phrase is compositionally built—'natural' + 'endowment' can be interpreted as things endowed by nature (i.e., natural resources), so the core meaning is derivable from the parts. However, 'endowment' is abstract and polysemous (donation, innate gift, financial fund) and 'natural' has multiple senses, so a B1 learner may not immediately map this collocation to the specific economic sense without contextual clues.
Etymology
Natural endowment pictures nature giving someone a gift at birth: natural means from birth and endowment means a gift or built-in supply. That's why it is used for 'an inborn talent'.