thumb|250px|Much attention has been given to preserving the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia, while allowing ample access for visitors. thumb|250px|Lightning strikes during the eruption of the Galunggung volcano in 1982 thumb|250px|Bachalpsee in the Swiss Alps; generally mountainous areas are less affected by human activity

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. Manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, and are referred to as artificial or man-made. Nature is generally distinguished from the supernatural. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition," but literally meaning "birth." Original sense is in "human nature." Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. This is shown in the first written use of the word φύσις, in connection with a plant. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects–the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness–wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind.

Etymology

File:Prinicipia-title.png|thumb|upright|Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687) used "nature" as a synonym for the physical universe.

The word nature means the universe, with all its phenomena. Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The word φύσις occurs very early in Greek philosophy, generally in similar senses to those of the modern English word nature. This is shown in the first written use of the word φύσις, in connection with a plant by Homer. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method. Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), for example, is translated "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy". The etymology of the word "physical" shows its use as a synonym for "natural" in about the mid-15th century.