Dictionary

preternatural en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɹi.tɚˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə)ɹ.əl/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˌprɛdərˈnætʃ(ə)rəl/ (General-American)
• /ˌpɹiː.təˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə)ɹ.əl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From preter- + natural, after Latin prēternātūrālis/praeternātūrālis, from praeter nātūram, from praeter (“beyond”) + nātūra (“nature”); compare supernatural.

Meanings

1. Beyond or not conforming to what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange.
   • "Villette! Villette! wrote George Eliot. "It is a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre. There is something almost preternatural in its power." 2014 January 4, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, “The other Charlotte Brontë girl [online version (3 January 2014): Why Villette is better than Jane Eyre: Everybody knows Jane Eyre, but Charlotte Brontë's greatest and most original novel was her last, Villette]”, in The Daily Telegraph, London, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2015, page R14:
   • D.B. Woodside as Amenadiel: "Something Charlotte said made me think. Maybe celestial beings and humans, Luci maybe they aren't that different." Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar: "What, are we talking in bed? 'Cause we know all know my skills are preternatural. But I suppose you on the other hand..." 2018, “Quintessential Deckerstar”, in Lucifer:
   • Doubtless there has been some exaggeration in the picturesque and fanciful relations of the almost preternatural skill and cunning of the Indian […] 1882, George Edward Ellis, The Red Man and the White Man in North America, page 152:
   • I have employed cold air, and very often spongings with cold water, in order to moderate the preternatural heat of the skin, and to check the increased velocity of the circulation. 1815, William Shearman, New Medical and Physical Journal:
2. (dated) Having an existence outside the natural world.
   • Macbeth is like a record of a preternatural and tragical event. 1817, William Hazlitt, “Macbeth”, in Characters of Shakespeare's Plays:
   • Vansittart Smith, fixing his eyes upon the fellow's skin, was conscious of a sudden impression that there was something inhuman and preternatural about its appearance. 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Ring of Thoth:
   • Not Leonore, in that preternatural midnight excursion with her phantom lover, was more terrified than poor Maggie in this entirely natural ride on a short-paced donkey, [...] 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book 1, Chapter 11:

Forms

Deriveds

unpreternatural · preternaturally · preternaturalism · preternaturalness · preternaturalist · preternaturality

Relateds

abnormal · pretermit · preterite · extraordinary · unusual · pretermission

Synonyms

exceptional · supernatural · extraordinary · inexplicable · abnormal · unnatural · paranormal · supernatural · uncanny · uncanny

Translations (24)

nl uitzonderlijk (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · sv övernaturlig (existing outside the natural world) · nl bovennatuurlijk (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · it innaturale (existing outside the natural world) · pt preternatural (existing outside the natural world) · nl buitennatuurlijk (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · de außernatürlich (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · nl buitennatuurlijk (existing outside the natural world) · et üleloomulik (existing outside the natural world) · it surreale (existing outside the natural world) · eo preternatura (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · ca preternatural (existing outside the natural world) · sv onaturlig (existing outside the natural world) · fr extraordinaire (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · it anormale (existing outside the natural world) · tr olağanüstü (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · ru сверхъесте́ственный (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · et ebaloomulik (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · fr surnaturel (existing outside the natural world) · es preternatural (existing outside the natural world) · tr fevkalade (beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things) · bg свръхестествен (existing outside the natural world) · it paranormale (existing outside the natural world) · nl bovennatuurlijk (existing outside the natural world)