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Nature vs Ability - What's the difference?

nature | ability |

As a proper noun nature

is the sum of natural forces reified and considered as a sentient being, will, or principle.

As a noun ability is

(obsolete) suitableness .

nature

English

Alternative forms

* natuer (obsolete)

Noun

  • (lb) The natural world; consisting of all things unaffected by or predating human technology, production and design. e.g. the ecosystem, the natural environment, virgin ground, unmodified species, laws of nature.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • *:Nature has caprices which art cannot imitate.
  • *1891 , (Oscar Wilde), ''(The Decay of Lying)
  • *:Nature has good intentions, of course, but, as Aristotle once said, she cannot carry them out. When I look at a landscape I cannot help seeing all its defects.
  • The innate characteristics of a thing. What something will tend by its own constitution, to be or do. Distinct from what might be expected or intended.
  • *1920 , (Herman Cyril McNeile), , Ch.1:
  • *:Being by nature of a cheerful disposition, the symptom did not surprise his servant, late private of the same famous regiment, who was laying breakfast in an adjoining room.
  • *1869 , , :
  • *:Mark hardly knew whether to believe this or not. He already began to suspect that Roswell was something of a humbug, and though it was not in his nature to form a causeless dislike, he certainly did not feel disposed to like Roswell.
  • The summary of everything that has to do with biological, chemical and physical states and events in the physical universe.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:I oft admire / How Nature , wise and frugal, could commit / Such disproportions.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2012-01, author=Robert M. Pringle, volume=100, issue=1, page=31
    • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= How to Be Manipulative , passage=As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.}}
  • Conformity to that which is natural, as distinguished from that which is artificial, or forced, or remote from actual experience.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
  • Kind, sort; character; quality.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:A dispute of this nature caused mischief.
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
  • (lb) Physical constitution or existence; the vital powers; the natural life.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:my days of nature
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Oppressed nature sleeps.
  • (lb) Natural affection or reverence.
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:Have we not seen / The murdering son ascend his parent's bed, / Through violated nature force his way?

    • Derived terms

    * animal nature * back to nature * bad nature * by nature * call of nature * defy the laws of nature * crime against nature * freak of nature * good nature * human nature * law of nature/laws of nature * let nature take its course * Mother Nature * nature morte * nature preserve * nature reserve * nature strip * nature study * nature worship * second nature (nature)

    Related terms

    * antenatal * innate * nascent * natal * nation * national * nationality * native * nativity * nativization * nativism * natural * naturism * naturalism * perinatal * prenatal

    Verb

    (natur)
  • (obsolete) To endow with natural qualities.

    • External links

    * *

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    ability

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (obsolete) hability

    Noun

  • (obsolete) Suitableness.
  • (uncountable) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do; capacity of doing something; having the necessary power.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title=[http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jul/01/education-michael-gove-finland-gcse Finland spreads word on schools] , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • The legal wherewithal to act.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title=[http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21579860-g8-pledges-tackle-three-ts-t-time T time] , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.}}
  • (archaic) Financial ability.
  • (uncountable) A unique power of the mind; a faculty.
  • * (rfdate) (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
    • Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study -
  • (countable) A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.
  • * (rfdate) (King James Bible) , (w) 11:29
    • Then the disciples, every man according to his ability , determined to send relief unto the brethren.
  • * (rfdate) (1800-1859)
    • The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
    • , title=[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/8882713/England-Under-21-5-Iceland-Under-21-0-match-report.html England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report] , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.}}

    Usage notes

    * (skill or competence) Usually used in the plural. * Ability, capacity : these words come into comparison when applied to the higher intellectual powers. ** Ability has reference to the active'' exercise of our faculties. It implies not only native vigor of mind, but that ease and promptitude of execution which arise from mental training. Thus, we speak of the ''ability'' with which a book is written, an argument maintained, a negotiation carried on, etc. It always supposes something to be ''done'',George Crabb, 1826, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YEgSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13 English synonymes explained in alphabetical order]'', Collins & Hannay, page 13 and the power of ''doing it. ** Capacity has reference to the receptive'' powers. In its higher exercises it supposes great quickness of apprehension and breadth of intellect, with an uncommon aptitude for acquiring]] and retaining knowledge. Hence it carries with it the idea of ''resources'' and undeveloped power. Thus we speak of the extraordinary ''capacity'' of such men as , and [[w:Edmund Burke, Edmund Burke. "''Capacity''," says H. Taylor, "is requisite to devise, and ''ability to execute, a great enterprise." * The word abilities , in the plural, embraces both these qualities, and denotes high mental endowments.

    Synonyms

    * (quality or state of being able) capacity, faculty, capability * (a skill or competence) See * (high level of skill or capability) talent, cleverness, dexterity, aptitude * (suitability or receptiveness to be acted upon) capability, faculty, capacity, aptness, aptitude

    Related terms

    *

    External links

    * *

    References