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innateness

innateness

1 8.2
Something already there at birth rather than learned later
  • noun
  • /ɪˈneɪtnəs/
translation icon : innatez
  • Psychologists debate the innateness of certain behaviors, questioning whether they are natural or learned.

Examples

  • Keynes's belief in original sin, in the innateness of human barbarism and irrationality, led him to the conclusion that Woolf's civilized ideal, however accurate it might be as a description of the best of all conceivable worlds, was not a possible world; it was impracticable.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Also going back to talent, what have you come to believe about the innateness of talent?

  • Well, this that all human languages have this property, that it has something to do with the innateness of human language?

  • This "innateness" business is a little subtle.

    Blog text (14)
  • How about inertia instead of innateness?

    Blog text (1)
  • Against Innateness

    Academic text (2006)
  • "And his/her notion of 'subcultures' seems to give a bit too much credence to the innateness of cultures..."

    Blog text (1)
  • If some authors and artists, as well as the law as it stands today, favor the idea of the Romantic author and ignore the sociality of copyright creation, then their argument would require something close to innateness.

    Academic text (2006)
  • In Book I of the Essay, Locke launches his attack on the notion of innateness and claims that knowledge can never be innate or find its origin in divine imprinting.

    Academic text (2006)
  • And his/her notion of 'subcultures' seems to give a bit too much credence to the innateness of cultures and ignores the rather more general nature of human social networks, how they form (and are maintained and strengthened) in families, communities, and peer groups.

    Blog text (1)

Antonyms

learned
  • Specialized
4.4

Gained by experience or training rather than being natural

acquired
  • Specialized
4.1

Not present at birth but learned or developed later

Surface Forms

innateness singular
innatenesses plural

Morphology

innateness = innate (transparent) = innate + ness

Standard noun formation from the adjective 'innate' with '-ness' yielding the quality of being inborn, which is directly predictable.

Etymology

Innateness comes from Latin parts in- and natus, meaning 'in' and 'born', and it is the same idea behind the word native. So, innateness is the quality of being 'from birth' or natural rather than learned.