natural history
Americannoun
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the sciences, as botany, mineralogy, or zoology, dealing with the study of all objects in nature: used especially in reference to the beginnings of these sciences in former times.
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the study of these sciences.
noun
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the study of animals and plants in the wild state
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the study of all natural phenomena
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the sum of these phenomena in a given place or at a given time
the natural history of Iran
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of natural history
First recorded in 1560–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s an era of natural history with striking parallels to our own — climate change, extinction, devastating fires, a wobbling balance between humans and the rest of the natural world.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
The study highlights the lasting importance of natural history collections.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
"That was the first time money from America had been invested in a natural history series," Scholey recalls.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
Attenborough's natural history series, such as "Life on Earth", in which he had a famous encounter with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, have brought the most remote corners of the planet into living rooms worldwide.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
There were magicians in the forest also in those legendary days, as well as strange animals not known to modern works of natural history.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
