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preternatural

 
Dictionary: pre·ter·nat·u·ral   (prē'tər-năch'ər-əl, -năch'rəl) pronunciation
 
adj.
  1. Out of or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural.
  2. Surpassing the normal or usual; extraordinary: “Below his preternatural affability there is some acid and steel” (George F. Will).
  3. 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.
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Thesaurus: preternatural
 

adjective

  1. Departing from the normal: aberrant, abnormal, anomalistic, anomalous, atypic, atypical, deviant, divergent, irregular, unnatural. See good/bad, usual/unusual.
  2. Greatly exceeding or departing from the normal course of nature: supernatural, unnatural. See usual/unusual.
  3. 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: preternatural
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adj

Definition: unusual, abnormal
Antonyms: common, natural, normal, regular, usual


 
Wikipedia: Preternatural
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Look up preternatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The preternatural or praeternatural is that which appears outside or beyond (Latin præter) the natural. While this may include what is more commonly called the supernatural, it may also simply indicate extremity — an ordinary phenomenon taken 'beyond' the natural. One may have, for example, a preternatural desire, a preternatural curiosity, a preternaturally acute ear (sense of hearing), or even preternaturally big ears.

Often used to distinguish from the divine (supernatural) while maintaining a distinction from the purely natural. For instance, in certain theology, the angels, both holy and fallen, are endowed with preternatural powers. Their intellect, speed, and other characteristics are beyond human capacities but are still finite.

Some examples of preternatural creatures in fiction include fairies, werewolves, vampires, zombies, and the Chupacabra.

See also

References

External links


 
Translations: Preternatural
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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:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Preternatural" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more