different between amazing vs preternatural

English

Etymology

amaze +? -ing, from Old English ?masian.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ?-m?'z?ng, IPA^(key): /??me?z??/, [??me??z??]
• Rhymes: -e?z??

Verb

amazing

1. present participle of amaze
   • 1848, John Bunyan and Robert Philip, The Greatness of the Soul: And the Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof, page 29, T. Nelson

     How many things have men found out to the amazing of one another, to the wonderment of one another, to the begetting of endless commendations of one another in the world

   • 1909, John Fryer and William Crooke, A New Account of East India and Persia: Being Nine Years' Travels, 1672-1681, page 92, Hakluyt Society

     Fancies to be persuaded of the confused Articulation of Multitudes met as in a Fair, conversing and making a chattering, to the amazing of them all.

   • 1996 August 5, Tim Behrendsen, "Tim Behrendsen Lost and Spaced THE FINAL TRY", rec.games.computer.quake.misc, Usenet

     Amazing is judged relative what already exists, and Quake has the best underwater effects so far.

   • 1997 November 30, Sir Frederick, "Pro-Mormons are amazing also", alt.religion.mormon.fellowship, Usenet

     Reality, especially God's Reality is amazing. For instance that there is something rather than nothing is amazing. [...] Amazing is amazing.

   • 1999 July 13, Irma Dobkin and Mary Jo Peterson, Gracious Spaces, page xix, McGraw-Hill Professional

     The amazing is happening.

   • 2000 March 24, "Shadow", "Return of the Fulgore Rant!", alt.fan.dragons, Usenet

     All that is impossibly amazing is considered nothing, and the impossibly amazing is considered normal.

   • 2001 February 3, Brian, "D3 weird FPS", alt.games.descent Usenet

     The amazing is that, in EXACTLY the same situation, the demo2 doesn't show this problem.

   • 2003 June 23, Thomas Bernhard, Three Novellas, page 31, University of Chicago Press

     Everything that amazes has its method, until we notice that the amazing is not amazing, has no method.

   • 2004 October 23, MgClearwater, "George says: Joe and Brian stay..", alt.sports.baseball.ny-yankees, Usenet

     Sheffield is an amazing athlete, how much of the amazing is provided from the Chemlab.

   • 2006 May 16, Simon Baird, "monkeyGTD is amazing- a few questions and suggestions", GTD TiddlyWiki, Google goups

     Cool! Of course 99% of the amazing is due to the "powered by TiddlyWiki" part of MonkeyGTD.. :)

Adjective

amazing (comparative more amazing, superlative most amazing)

1. Causing wonder and amazement; very surprising.
2. Possessing uniquely wonderful qualities.
   • 2014, November 8, Nick McCarvel, "Wozniacki's marathon debut was amazing, Djokovic says", USA TODAY Sports

     "Running a marathon is definitely an amazing experience."

3. Very good.
   • 2014, November 6, WAAY-TV (Huntsville, AL), VIDEO: "Sitting next to him was amazing" says student of General Via

     "I think it was pretty amazing that he picked our school out of a lot of schools to come speak to us about what he has done, and what our country has done, to help us gain our freedom," Mucci said, “sitting next to him was amazing.”

   • 2015, June 10, Lindsey Bever, "Morning Mix: Another reason seeing-eye dogs are amazing"[1]

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:awesome

Derived terms

• amazingly
• amazingness

Related terms

• amazement

Translations

References

• amazing at OneLook Dictionary Search
• amazing in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• amazing in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Alternative forms

• praeternatural
• præternatural (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin pretern?t?r?lis/praetern?t?r?lis, from praeter n?t?ram, from praeter (“beyond”) + n?t?ra (“nature”); compare supernatural.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?i?.t??næt??.(?)?.?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?i.t??næt??.(?)?.?l/
• (US)

Adjective

preternatural (comparative more preternatural, superlative most preternatural)

1. Beyond or not conforming to what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange.

   Synonyms: inexplicable, exceptional, extraordinary, abnormal, uncanny

   • 1815, William Shearman, New Medical and Physical Journal

     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.

   • 1882, George Edward Ellis, The Red Man and the White Man in North America, p. 152,

     Doubtless there has been some exaggeration in the picturesque and fanciful relations of the almost preternatural skill and cunning of the Indian […]

   • 2018 "Quintessential Deckerstar", Lucifer

     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..."

2. (dated) Having an existence outside of the natural world.

   Synonyms: paranormal, supernatural, unnatural

   • 1817, William Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespeare's Plays, "Macbeth",

     Macbeth is like a record of a preternatural and tragical event.

   • 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book 1, Chapter 11,

     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, [...]

   • 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Ring of Thoth",

     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.

Usage notes

• In modern secular use, refers to extraordinary but still natural phenomena, as in “preternatural talent”. In religious and occult usage, used similarly to supernatural, meaning “outside of nature”, but usually to a lower level than supernatural – it can be used synonymously (identical to supernatural), as a hyponym (a kind of supernatural), or a coordinate term (similar to supernatural, but a distinct category). For example, in Catholic theology, preternatural refers to properties of creatures like angels, while supernatural refers to properties of God alone.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• preternatural on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• preternatural in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Portuguese

Adjective

preternatural m or f (plural preternaturais, comparable)

1. preternatural

Spanish

Adjective

preternatural (plural preternaturales)

1. preternatural