supernatural

English

Etymology

From Middle English supernatural, supernaturel, from Middle French supernaturel, from Latin supernātūrālis, from super (“above”) + nātūra (“nature; that which we are born with”), from nātus (“born”), perfect passive participle of nāscī (“to be born”) + adjective suffix -ālis. By surface analysis, super- +‎ natural.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌs(j)uː.pəˈnæ.tʃə.ɹəl/, /-tʃɹəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsu.pəɹˈnæ.tʃə.ɹəl/, /-tʃɹəl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌs(j)ʉː.pəˈnɛ.tʃɹəl/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætʃəɹəl, -ætʃɹəl
• Hyphenation: su‧per‧na‧tur‧al

Adjective

supernatural (comparative more supernatural, superlative most supernatural)

1. Above nature; beyond or added to nature, often so considered because it is given by a deity or some force beyond that with which humans are born.

   Synonym: supranatural

   Near-synonym: paranatural

   Antonyms: ordinary, normal, typical

   Coordinate terms: natural, preternatural, paranormal, extranormal, extraordinary, unnatural

   In Roman Catholic theology, sanctifying grace is considered to be a supernatural addition to human nature.

   Stephen King's first novel is about a girl named Carrie dealing with supernatural powers.

   • 1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, London: Longmans, Green and Co., page 14:

     We know from their literature that to our Saxon ancestors waste places of moor and forest and marshes were the resort of a host of supernatural creatures at enmity with mankind.

   • 2018 March 14, Roger Penrose, “'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking – obituary by Roger Penrose”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 March 2025:

     As with the Delphic oracle of ancient Greece, physical impairment seemed compensated by almost supernatural gifts, which allowed his mind to roam the universe freely, upon occasion enigmatically revealing some of its secrets hidden from ordinary mortal view.

2. Not of the usual; not natural; altered by forces that are not understood fully, if at all.

   Synonym: supranatural

   Near-synonym: paranatural

   Antonyms: ordinary, normal, typical

   Coordinate terms: natural, preternatural, paranormal, extranormal, extraordinary, unnatural

   The house is haunted by supernatural forces.

Derived terms

• nonsupernatural
• semisupernatural
• supernaturalism
• supernaturalist
• supernaturalistic
• supernaturality
• supernaturalize
• supernaturally
• supernaturalness
• supernatural selection
• super-supernatural
• unsupernatural

Related terms

• extranatural
• metanatural
• nonnatural
• paranatural
• preternatural
• supernormal
• supranatural
• unnatural

Translations

above nature

• Albanian: mbinatyrshëm (sq)
• Arabic: خَارِق (ḵāriq), مِيتَافِيزِيقِيّ m (mītāfīzīqiyy), مَا فَوْقَ الطَّبِيعَة m (mā fawqa ṭ-ṭabīʕa)
• Armenian: գերբնական (hy) (gerbnakan)
• Belarusian: звышнатура́льны (zvyšnaturálʹny)
• Bulgarian: свръхестествен (bg) (svrǎhestestven)
• Catalan: sobrenatural (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 超自然 (zh) (chāozìrán)

• Czech: nadpřirozený (cs)
• Danish: overnaturlig
• Dutch: bovennatuurlijk (nl)
• Esperanto: supernatura
• Estonian: üleloomulik (et)
• Finnish: yliluonnollinen (fi), jumalallinen (fi)
• French: surnaturel (fr), surnaturelle (fr)
• Galician: sobrenatural (gl)
• Georgian: ზებუნებრივი (zebunebrivi)
• German: übernatürlich (de)
• Greek: υπερφυσικός (el) (yperfysikós)
• Hungarian: természetfeletti (hu)
• Icelandic: yfirnáttúrulegur
• Ido: supernatura (io)
• Italian: soprannaturale (it), sovrannaturale
• Japanese: 超自然の (chōshizen no)
• Kazakh: табиғаттан тыс (tabiğattan tys)
• Korean: 초자연적인 (chojayeonjeogin)
• Latin: divinus (la), extranaturalis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overnaturlig (no)

  Nynorsk: overnaturleg

• Polish: nadnaturalny (pl), nadprzyrodzony (pl)
• Portuguese: sobrenatural (pt)
• Romanian: supranatural (ro)
• Russian: сверхъесте́ственный (ru) (sverxʺjestéstvennyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: os-nàdarrach
• Slovak: nadprirodzený
• Spanish: sobrenatural (es)
• Swahili: -si- -a dunia hii (literally “not of this world”)
• Tagalog: higlikas
• Thai: เหนือธรรมชาติ (th) (nʉ̌ʉa-tam-má-châat)
• Turkish: olağanüstü (tr)
• Ukrainian: надприро́дний (nadpryródnyj)
• Vietnamese: siêu nhiên (vi)
• Welsh: goruwchnaturiol (cy)
• Yiddish: איבערנאַטירלעך (ibernatirlekh)

not of the usual

• Albanian: mbinatyrshëm (sq)
• Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَائِيّ m (istiṯnāʔiyy)
• Armenian: գերբնական (hy) (gerbnakan)
• Bulgarian: необикновен (bg) (neobiknoven)
• Danish: overnaturlig
• Estonian: üleloomulik (et)
• Finnish: yliluonnollinen (fi)
• French: surnaturel (fr)
• Greek: υπερφυσικός (el) m (yperfysikós)
• Icelandic: yfirnáttúrulegur, yfirskilvitlegur
• Italian: ultraterreno (it)
• Latin: divinus (la)
• Māori: mākutu, whaiwhaiā, tipua, tupua
• Portuguese: sobrenatural (pt)
• Russian: сверхъесте́ственный (ru) (sverxʺjestéstvennyj)
• Turkish: olağanüstü (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} bovennatuurlijk (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} übernatürlich (de)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} természetfeletti (hu) (1), ^{(please verify)} különös (hu), ^{(please verify)} rendkívüli (hu) (2)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} soprannaturale (it), sovrannaturale
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} supernaturalis
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} supranatural (ro)
• Scots: ^{(please verify)} supernaitural
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: ^{(please verify)} natprírodan (sh), ^{(please verify)} nadnárāvan (sh)

• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} nadnaraven (sl)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} övernaturlig (sv)
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} goruwchnaturiol (cy)

Noun

supernatural (plural supernaturals)

1. (countable) A supernatural being
2. (uncountable) Supernatural beings and events collectively (when used with definite article: "the supernatural")
   • 2012, Blake Morrison, The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Dr Johnson defended Shakespeare's use of the supernatural from the charge of implausibility on the grounds that, "The reality of witchcraft … has in all ages and countries been credited by the common people, and in most by the learned."

Translations

being

• Finnish: yliluonnollinen olento

beings and events collectively

• Finnish: yliluonnollinen (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Russian: ^{(please verify)} сверхъестественное (ru) (sverxʺjestestvennoje)

See also

• parapsychological

Further reading

• “supernatural”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “supernatural”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
• “supernatural”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “supernatural”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “supernatural”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “supernatural, adj. & n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• supernaturel

Etymology

From Middle French supernaturel, from Latin supernātūrālis; equivalent to super- +‎ natural.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsiu̯pərnaːˈtiu̯ral/, /ˌsiu̯pərnaːˈtiu̯rɛl/, /ˌsiu̯pərnaˈtiu̯ral/, /ˌsiu̯pərnaˈtiu̯rɛl/

Adjective

supernatural

1. (Late Middle English, religion) deity-related; from God

Descendants

• English: supernatural
• Scots: supernatural

References

• “supernā̆tūrāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 14 June 2018.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin supernātūrālis. By surface analysis, super- +‎ natural.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌsu.peɾ.na.tuˈɾaw/ [ˌsu.peɾ.na.tuˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌsu.pɛɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾal/ [ˌsu.pɛɾ.nɐ.tuˈɾaɫ]

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

• Hyphenation: su‧per‧na‧tu‧ral

Adjective

supernatural m or f (plural supernaturais)

1. synonym of sobrenatural

Noun

supernatural m or f by sense (plural supernaturais)

1. synonym of sobrenatural

Further reading

• “supernatural”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “supernatural”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “supernatural”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “supernatural”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

From super- +‎ natural.

Adjective

supernatural m or n (feminine singular supernaturală, masculine plural supernaturali, feminine/neuter plural supernaturale)

1. supernatural

Declension

Declension of supernatural

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	supernatural		supernaturală	supernaturali	supernaturale
	definite	supernaturalul		supernaturala	supernaturalii	supernaturalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	supernatural		supernaturale	supernaturali	supernaturale
	definite	supernaturalului		supernaturalei	supernaturalilor	supernaturalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin supernātūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsupeɾnatuˈɾal/ [ˌsu.peɾ.na.t̪uˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: su‧per‧na‧tu‧ral

Adjective

supernatural m or f (masculine and feminine plural supernaturales)

1. synonym of sobrenatural