preternatural

English

WOTD – 9 August 2008

Alternative forms

• praeternatural
• præternatural (archaic)

Etymology

From preter- +‎ natural, after Latin prēternātūrālis/praeternātūrālis, from praeter nātūram, from praeter (“beyond”) + nātūra (“nature”); compare supernatural.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹiː.təˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə)ɹ.əl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɹi.tɚˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə)ɹ.əl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

preternatural (comparative more preternatural, superlative most preternatural)

1. Beyond or not conforming to what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange.

   Synonyms: inexplicable, exceptional, extraordinary, abnormal, uncanny

   • 1815, William Shearman, New Medical and Physical Journal:

     I have employed cold air, and very often spongings with cold water, in order to moderate the preternatural heat of the skin, and to check the increased velocity of the circulation.

   • 1882, George Edward Ellis, The Red Man and the White Man in North America, page 152:

     Doubtless there has been some exaggeration in the picturesque and fanciful relations of the almost preternatural skill and cunning of the Indian […]

   • 2014 January 4, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, “The other Charlotte Brontë girl [online version (3 January 2014): Why Villette is better than Jane Eyre: Everybody knows Jane Eyre, but Charlotte Brontë's greatest and most original novel was her last, Villette]”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[1], London, page R14:

     "Villette! Villette! wrote George Eliot. "It is a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre. There is something almost preternatural in its power."

   • 2018, “Quintessential Deckerstar”, in Lucifer:

     D.B. Woodside as Amenadiel: "Something Charlotte said made me think. Maybe celestial beings and humans, Luci maybe they aren't that different."
     Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar: "What, are we talking in bed? 'Cause we know all know my skills are preternatural. But I suppose you on the other hand..."

2. (dated) Having an existence outside of the natural world.

   Synonyms: paranormal, supernatural, unnatural

   • 1817, William Hazlitt, “Macbeth”, in Characters of Shakespeare's Plays:

     Macbeth is like a record of a preternatural and tragical event.

   • 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book 1, Chapter 11:

     Not Leonore, in that preternatural midnight excursion with her phantom lover, was more terrified than poor Maggie in this entirely natural ride on a short-paced donkey, [...]

   • 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Ring of Thoth:

     Vansittart Smith, fixing his eyes upon the fellow's skin, was conscious of a sudden impression that there was something inhuman and preternatural about its appearance.

Usage notes

• In modern secular use, refers to extraordinary but still natural phenomena, as in “preternatural talent”. In religious and occult usage, used similarly to supernatural, meaning “outside of nature”, but usually to a lower level than supernatural – it can be used synonymously (identical to supernatural), as a hyponym (a kind of supernatural), or a coordinate term (similar to supernatural, but a distinct category). For example, in Catholic theology, preternatural refers to properties of creatures like angels, while supernatural refers to properties of God alone.

Derived terms

• preternaturalism
• preternaturality
• preternaturally
• preternaturalness

Related terms

Etymologically related to praeter (“beyond”)

• preterite
• pretermit
• pretermission

Translations

existing outside of the natural world

• Bulgarian: свръхестествен (bg) (svrǎhestestven)
• Catalan: preternatural
• Dutch: buitennatuurlijk, bovennatuurlijk (nl)
• Estonian: üleloomulik (et)
• French: surnaturel (fr)
• Italian: surreale (it), innaturale (it), paranormale, anormale (it)
• Portuguese: preternatural
• Spanish: preternatural (es)
• Swedish: onaturlig (sv), övernaturlig (sv)

beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things

• Dutch: uitzonderlijk (nl), buitennatuurlijk, bovennatuurlijk (nl)
• Estonian: ebaloomulik
• French: extraordinaire (fr)
• German: außernatürlich
• Russian: сверхъесте́ственный (ru) (sverxʺjestéstvennyj)
• Turkish: fevkalade (tr), olağanüstü (tr)

References

• “preternatural”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• preternatural on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praeternātūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pɾə.tər.nə.tuˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾe.teɾ.na.tuˈɾal]

Adjective

preternatural m or f (masculine and feminine plural preternaturals)

1. preternatural

Related terms

• sobrenatural

Further reading

• “preternatural”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾe.teʁ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [pɾe.teɦ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾe.teʁ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [pɾe.teɦ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /pɾe.teɾ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [pɾe.teɾ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /pɾe.teʁ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [pɾe.teʁ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾe.teɻ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [pɾe.teɻ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.tɨɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾal/ [pɾɨ.tɨɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.tɨɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾal/ [pɾɨ.tɨɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.tɨɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾa.li/

• Hyphenation: pre‧ter‧na‧tu‧ral

Adjective

preternatural m or f (plural preternaturais)

1. preternatural

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾeteɾnatuˈɾal/ [pɾe.t̪eɾ.na.t̪uˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pre‧ter‧na‧tu‧ral

Adjective

preternatural m or f (masculine and feminine plural preternaturales)

1. preternatural

Derived terms

• preternaturalmente

Further reading

• “preternatural”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10