natural history

American  

noun

1. 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.

2. the study of these sciences.

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natural history British  

noun

1. the study of animals and plants in the wild state

2. the study of all natural phenomena

3. the sum of these phenomena in a given place or at a given time

   the natural history of Iran

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natural history Scientific  

1. The study and description of living things and natural objects, especially their origins, evolution, and relationships to one another. Natural history includes the sciences of zoology, mineralogy, geology, and paleontology.

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Other Word Forms

• natural historian noun

Etymology

Origin of natural history

First recorded in 1560–70

Example Sentences

The fossils "provide a critical, missing baseline for New Zealand's natural history."

From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026

It targeted a rare disease with a defined genetic cause, showed a clinical benefit in some patients, and used a well-characterized natural history for comparison.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026

Lowthorpe tapped Lloyd and Rose Buck, married bird specialists who had worked for decades on natural history documentaries with the likes of David Attenborough.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

"Based on what we know about their natural history and lifestyles, they're not going to be able to disperse to different coastal dunes to reproduce and 'mix' with each other," Jochim said.

From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2025

She goes to the cabinet and gets my favorite mug, the green one with the black owl staring at you from the natural history museum.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

Related Words

• environment
• landscape
• view
• world