preternatural
American Heritage Dictionary:
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pre·ter·nat·u·ral
(prē'tər-năch'ər-əl, -năch'rəl) 
adj.
preternaturally pre'ter·nat'u·ral·ly adv.
preternaturalness pre'ter·nat'u·ral·ness n.
adj.
- Out of or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural.
- Surpassing the normal or usual; extraordinary: "Below his preternatural affability there is some acid and steel" (George F. Will).
- Transcending the natural or material order; supernatural.
[Medieval Latin praeternātūrālis, from Latin praeter nātūrām, beyond nature : praeter, beyond; see preterit + nātūra, nature; see nature.]
preternaturalism pre'ter·nat'u·ral·ism n.preternaturally pre'ter·nat'u·ral·ly adv.
preternaturalness pre'ter·nat'u·ral·ness n.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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preternatural
adjective
- Departing from the normal: aberrant, abnormal, anomalistic, anomalous, atypic, atypical, deviant, divergent, irregular, unnatural. See good/bad, usual/unusual.
- Greatly exceeding or departing from the normal course of nature: supernatural, unnatural. See usual/unusual.
- Of, coming from, or relating to forces or beings that exist outside the natural world: extramundane, extrasensory, metaphysical, miraculous, superhuman, supernatural, superphysical, supersensible, transcendental, unearthly. See supernatural.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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preternatural
adj
Definition: unusual, abnormal
Antonyms: common, natural, normal, regular, usual
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'preternatural'
- Occult States and Experiences - preternatural: (adj) extraordinary, existing outside nature
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Preternatural
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) |
The preternatural or praeternatural is that which appears outside or beside (Latin præter) the natural. In contrast to the supernatural, preternatural phenomena are presumed to have rational explanations that are unknown.[1]
The term is often used to distinguish from the divine (supernatural) while maintaining a distinction from what is known and understood. For example, in fiction, vampires are often portrayed as having preternatural qualities and capacities that greatly exceed those of normal people, apart from unnatural powers that no creature could hope to possess.[2]
See also
External links
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Look up preternatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- "What is the difference between natural, preternatural and supernatural?" Possession and Exorcism, J.A. Fortea
References
- ^ "Preternatural". Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. 1913 + 1828. http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?resource=Webster's&word=preternatural.
- ^ Meyer, S. (2011). The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Twilight Saga. Little, Brown Books. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-316-04312-0. LCCN 2011389220. http://books.google.com/books?id=vwPI9oJXKiIC&pg=PT37.
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Translations:
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Preternatural
Dansk (Danish)
adj. - usædvanlig, overnaturlig
Nederlands (Dutch)
tegennatuurlijk, abnormaal
Français (French)
adj. - surnaturel
Deutsch (German)
adj. - außergewöhnlich, übernatürlich
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - υπερφυσικός
Italiano (Italian)
sovrannaturale
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - sobrenatural, extraordinário
Русский (Russian)
аномальный, сверхъестественный
Español (Spanish)
adj. - inexplicable
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - övernaturlig
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
超自然的, 奇异的, 异常的
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 超自然的, 奇異的, 異常的
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 초자연적인, 이상한
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 超自然的な, 不可思議な, 異常な
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) شاذ, غير طبيعي
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - על-טבעי, אל-טבעי
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Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Preternatural.
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