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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Other Word Forms

• natural historian noun

Etymology

Origin of natural history

First recorded in 1560–70

Example Sentences

We see samurai as civil servants, patrons of new fields of study like natural history, scholars of Western knowledge, and, of course, as customers in the thriving pleasure districts that catered to their varied tastes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026

On Thursday, detectives announced they have made their first arrest in relation to incident, which saw military memorabilia, jewellery, natural history pieces and carved ivory, bronze and silver figurines taken.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

Motta said the case highlights the critical role of natural history collections and raises questions about how holotypes should be defined today.

From Science Daily • Jan. 6, 2026

It also gave researchers the opportunity to observe its behavior and investigate aspects of its natural history that were previously unknown.

From Science Daily • Dec. 25, 2025

Although there is a large literature on the classification and natural history of spiders, it is scattered and fragmentary and deals not at all with their value as an agent of biological control.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• environment
• landscape
• view
• world