different between key vs natural

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: k?, IPA^(key): /ki?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ki/
• IPA^(key): [?k??i?]
• Rhymes: -i?
• Homophones: cay, quay

Etymology 1

From Middle English keye, kaye, kei?e, from Old English c??, c??e, c?ga (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), of uncertain origin. Related to Old English c?ggian (“to lock, shut”). The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kay (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *k?gaz, *k?guz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *?og?-, *?eg?-, *?eg?n- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German k?k (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."

Noun

key (plural keys)

1. An object designed to open and close a lock.
2. An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
3. A crucial step or requirement.

   • Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.

   • who keeps the keys of all the creeds

4. A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.

5. A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.

6. (computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.

7. (music)
   1. In musical instruments, one of the valve levers used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
   2. In instruments with a keyboard such as an organ or piano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.
8. (music)
   1. The lowest note of a scale; keynote.
   2. In musical theory, the total melodic and harmonic relations, which exist between the tones of an ideal scale, major or minor; tonality.
   3. In musical theory and notation, the tonality centering in a given tone, or the several tones taken collectively, of a given scale, major or minor.
   4. In musical notation, a sign at the head of a staff indicating the musical key.
   • 1881, R.L. Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

     A girl, it is true, has always lived in a glass house among reproving relatives, whose word was law; she has been bred up to sacrifice her judgments and take the key submissively from dear papa; and it is wonderful how swiftly she can change her tune into the husband's.

9. (figuratively) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
   • ?, William Cowper, Conversation

     You fall at once into a lower key.

10. (advertising) A modification of an advertisement so as to target a particular group or demographic.
    • 1998, Mail Order Success Secrets

      Another popular way to key ads and mailings is to use a suite number, room number, department number, desk number, etc. as part of the ordering address. With a classified ad, using such a key may increase your ad cost.

11. (botany) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
12. (historical) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
13. (cryptography) A piece of information (e.g. a passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
14. (Internet) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.
    • 2000, "Robert Erdec", Re: Help; mIRC32; unable to resolve server arnes.si (on newsgroup alt.irc.mirc)

      if you know someone who is in the channel, you can query them and ask for the key.

15. (databases) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
16. (computing) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in a container.
17. (basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.

18. (biology) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
19. (architecture) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
20. (architecture) The last board of a floor when laid down.
21. (masonry) A keystone.
22. That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
23. (rail transport) A wooden support for a rail on the bullhead rail system.
24. The degree of roughness, or retention ability of a surface to have applied a liquid such as paint, or glue.

25. (cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.
26. (print and film) The black ink layer, especially in relation to the three color layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow. See also CMYK.
27. (computer graphics, television) A color to be masked or made transparent.
    • 2004, Mark Schmidt, ?Simon Robinson, Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Developer's Cookbook (page 195)

      You can easily create this type of user interface by creating a bitmap with certain portions set to a predefined color you want to use as the transparency key.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• clef
• scale
• key on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Key in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Adjective

key (comparative more key, superlative most key)

1. Indispensable, supremely important.

   He is the key player on his soccer team.

   • 2007, Mark H. Moss, Shopping as an Entertainment Experience (page 46)

     Lukas intimates that one of Disney's key attractions was "Main Street USA,” which "mimicked a downtown business district just as Southdale" had done.
2. Important, salient.

   She makes several key points.

Translations

Verb

key (third-person singular simple present keys, present participle keying, simple past and past participle keyed)

1. To fit (a lock) with a key.
2. To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
3. To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
   • 1996 January, Garden Dsign Ideas, second printing, Taunton Press, ?ISBN, page 25,

     So I worked on a tissue-paper copy of the perimeter plan, outlining groupings of plants of the same species and keying them with letters for the species.

   • 2001, Bruce M. Metzger, The Bible in Translation, ?ISBN, page 87,

     The volume closes with thirty pages of "Notes, critical and explanatory," in which Thomson provides seventy-six longer or shorter notes keyed to specific sections of the synopsis.

   • 2002, Karen Bromley, Stretching Students' Vocabulary, ?ISBN, page 12,

     Talk about similarities between the words and write them below to the left of the anchor, keying them with a plus sign (+). Talk about the characteristics that set the words apart and list them below the box to the right, keying them with a tilde sign (~).

   • 2007, Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland, and Doris Hall, compilers, The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines, 6th ("2007–2008") edition, ?ISBN, page 757,

     Indicate the comparative value of each heading by keying it with a number in pencil, in the left margin, as follows: […]

4. (telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
5. (radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
6. (computing) (more usually to key in) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.

   Our instructor told us to key in our user IDs.

7. (colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.

   He keyed the car that had taken his parking spot.

8. To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
   • 1960, Richard L. Masland, "Classification of the Epilepsies", in Epilepsia, volume 1, page 516,

     The American Heart Association has prepared their own guide to classification and, keying it with the Standard Nomenclature of Diseases, have done much to encourage a concise yet complete diagnosis.
9. (intransitive, biology, chiefly taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
10. (advertising, transitive) To modify (an advertisement) so as to target a particular group or demographic.
    • 1936, John Freeman Pyle, Marketing Principles, Organization and Policies (page 711)

      Keying advertisements and counting the number of inquiries received or the number of coupons returned to indicate the "pulling power" of a particular piece of copy or the coverage of a particular advertising medium.

    • 1998, Mail Order Success Secrets

      Another popular way to key ads and mailings is to use a suite number, room number, department number, desk number, etc. as part of the ordering address. With a classified ad, using such a key may increase your ad cost. Why? Because you're using an extra word or two to key the ad.

11. To attune to; to set at; to pitch.
12. To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis to this entry?)

Derived terms

• key in
• key off
• key out
• keyed up

Translations

References

Etymology 2

Variant of cay, from Spanish cayo, from Taíno cayo (“small island”)

Alternative forms

• cay

Noun

key (plural keys)

1. One of a string of small islands.

   the Florida Keys

Derived terms

• Florida Keys
• Key West

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

key (plural keys)

1. Alternative form of quay.

Etymology 4

Abbreviating kilogram, via kilo.

Noun

key (plural keys)

1. (slang) Clipping of kilogram (especially of a recreational drug)

   Synonym: kay

   • 2010, David J. Silas, Da Block (page 41)

     So starting with ten keys of cocaine and two keys of heroin, Derrick put his plan in motion. Soon every major drug dealer and gang chief from Chicago Avenue to Evanston was in his pocket.

Anagrams

• Kye, kye

Central Kurdish

Adverb

key (key)

1. when

Manx

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

key m (genitive singular [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. cream

Derived terms

• key blinkit
• key feayr
• key riojey, key riojit

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

key m (genitive singular keyee)

1. (nautical) quay

Mutation

English

Alternative forms

• naturall (obsolete)
• nat'ral (AAVE)

Etymology

From Middle English natural, borrowed from Old French natural, naturel, from Latin n?t?r?lis, from n?tus, the perfect participle of n?scor (“be born”, verb).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: n?ch??r-?l, n?ch?r?l IPA^(key): /?næt????l/, /?næt???l/
• (General American) enPR: n?ch??r-?l, n?ch?r?l, IPA^(key): /?næt????l/, /-??l/, /?næt???l/
• Rhymes: -æt????l, -æt???l
• Hyphenation: nat?u?ral, natu?ral

Adjective

natural (comparative more natural, superlative most natural)

1. That exists and evolved within the confines of an ecosystem.

2. Of or relating to nature.

3. Without artificial additives.

4. As expected; reasonable.
5. (music) Neither sharp nor flat. Denoted ?.

6. (music) Produced by natural organs, such as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music.
7. (music) Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key.# (mathematics) Having 1 as the base of the system, of a function or number.
8. Without, or prior to, modification or adjustment.
   1. (dice games) The result of a dice roll before bonuses or penalties are added to or subtracted from the result.
9. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.
10. (obsolete) Connected by the ties of consanguinity.
11. Related genetically but not legally to one's father; born out of wedlock, illegitimate.
    • 1990, Roy Porter, English Society in the 18th Century, Penguin 1991, p. 264:

      Dr Erasmus Darwin set up his two illegitimate daughters as the governesses of a school, noting that natural children often had happier (because less pretentious) upbringings than legitimate.

12. (of sexual intercourse) Without a condom.

13. (bridge) Bidding in an intuitive way that reflects one's actual hand.

Synonyms

• (exists in an ecosystem): see Thesaurus:innate or Thesaurus:native
• (as expected): inevitable, necessary, reasonable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable
• (without adjustment): see Thesaurus:raw
• (connected by consanguinity): see Thesaurus:consanguine
• (born out of wedlock): see Thesaurus:illegitimate
• (without a condom): see Thesaurus:condomless

Antonyms

• (exists in an ecosystem): aberrant, abnormal, artificial
• (as expected): see Thesaurus:strange
• (without additives): processed
• (bridge): conventional

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

natural (plural naturals)

1. (now rare) A native inhabitant of a place, country etc. [from 16th c.]
   • 1615, Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia, Richmond 1957, page 3:

     I coniecture and assure my selfe that yee cannot be ignorant by what meanes this peace hath bin thus happily both for our proceedings and the welfare of the Naturals concluded [...].

2. (music) A note that is not or is no longer to be modified by an accidental. [from 17th c.]
3. (music) The symbol ? used to indicate such a natural note.
4. One with an innate talent at or for something. [from 18th c.]

5. An almost white colour, with tints of grey, yellow or brown; originally that of natural fabric. [from 20th c.]

6. (archaic) One with a simple mind; a fool or idiot.
   • 1633, A Banqvet of Jests: or, Change of Cheare. Being a collection, of Moderne Ie?ts. Witty Ieeres. Plea?ant Taunts. Merry Tales. The Second Part newly publi?hed, page 30:

     A Noble-man tooke a great liking to a naturall, and had covenanted with his parents to take him from them and to keepe him for his plea?ure, and demanding of the Ideot if he would ?erve him, he made him this an?were, My Father ?aith he, got me to be his foole of my mother, now if you long to have a foole; go & without doubt you may get one of your owne wife.

7. (colloquial, chiefly Britain) One's natural life.
   • 1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage 2014, page 155:

     ‘Sergeant-Major Robinson came in in the middle of it, and you've never seen a man look more surprised in your natural.’

8. (US, colloquial) A hairstyle for people with Afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated.
   • 2002, Maxine Leeds Craig, Ain't I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race, Oxford University Press ?ISBN

     Chinosole, who stopped straightening her hair and cut it into a natural while at a predominantly white college, was quite uneasy with the style

   • 2012, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul: Celebrating and Sharing Our Culture One Story at a Time, Simon and Schuster ?ISBN

     I wanted to do it for so long — throw out my chemically relaxed hair for a natural.

   • 2015, Carmen M. Cusack, HAIR AND JUSTICE: Sociolegal Significance of Hair in Criminal Justice, Constitutional Law, and Public Policy, Charles C Thomas Publisher ?ISBN, page 155

     Third, it insinuates that black afro hairstyles (e.g., naturals) relate to African cultural heritage, which is largely untrue.

9. (algebra) Closed under submodules, direct sums, and injective hulls.

Translations

Adverb

natural (comparative more natural, superlative most natural)

1. (colloquial, dialect) Naturally; in a natural manner.

See also

• Appendix:Colors

References

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

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin naturalis, attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /n?.tu??al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /na.tu??al/

Adjective

natural (masculine and feminine plural naturals)

1. natural

Derived terms

• gas natural
• naturalesa
• naturalisme
• naturalitzar
• naturalment
• nombre natural
• selecció natural

Related terms

• naturalitat

Noun

natural m or f (plural naturals)

1. native, natural (person who is native to a place)

   Synonym: nadiu

Noun

natural m (plural naturals)

1. nature (innate characteristics of a person)

Related terms

• natura

References

Further reading

• “natural” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “natural” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “natural” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin naturalis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

natural m or f (plural naturais)

1. natural

Derived terms

• naturalmente

Noun

natural m or f (plural naturais)

1. native, natural

Synonyms

• nativo

Noun 2

natural m (plural naturais)

1. nature (innate characteristics of a person)

Related terms

• natureza

Further reading

• “natural” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• naturel, naturalle, naturelle, naturell, naturall, naturill

Etymology

From Old French natural, from Latin n?t?r?lis; equivalent to nature +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na??tiu?ral/, /na??tiu?r?l/, /na?tiu?ral/, /na?tiu?r?l/

Adjective

natural

1. intrinsic, fundamental, basic; relating to natural law.
2. natural (preexisting; present or due to nature):
   1. usual, regular (i.e. as found in nature)
   2. well; in good heath or condition.
   3. inherited; due to one's lineage.
   4. inborn; due to one's natural reasoning (rather than a deity's intervention)
3. Nourishing; healthful or beneficial to one's body.
4. Misbegotten; conceived outside of marriage
5. Correct, right, fitting.
6. Diligent in performing one's societal obligations.
7. (rare) Endemic, indigenous.
8. (rare) Bodily; relating to one's human form.

Related terms

• supernatural

Descendants

• English: natural
• Scots: naitural

References

• “n?t?r?l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-14.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin n?t?r?lis.

Adjective

natural m (oblique and nominative feminine singular naturale)

1. natural

Related terms

• nature
• naistre

Descendants

• ? Middle English: natural
  • English: natural
  • Scots: naitural
• French: naturel
  • ? Breton: naturel

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naty?ral/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

natural

1. natural

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese natural, borrowed from Latin n?t?r?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /n?.tu.??a?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /na.tu.??aw/, [n??.t??.??ä??]
• Hyphenation: na?tu?ral

Adjective

natural m or f (plural naturais, comparable)

1. natural
2. native of, from

   Synonyms: originário, oriundo

3. room-temperature (of liquids)

Antonyms

• (room-temperature): fresco

Related terms

• natura
• naturalidade
• naturalismo
• naturalístico
• naturalizar
• naturalmente
• natureza
• naturismo

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin n?t?r?lis, French naturel, Italian naturale.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.tu?ral/

Adjective

natural m or n (feminine singular natural?, masculine plural naturali, feminine and neuter plural naturale)

1. natural

Further reading

• natural in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin n?t?r?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /natu??al/, [na.t?u??al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: na?tu?ral

Adjective

natural (plural naturales)

1. natural (of or relating to nature)
2. natural, plain (without artificial additives)

3. natural (as expected; reasonable)

   Synonym: normal

4. (of a day) being a calendar day
5. (music) natural (neither sharp nor flat)
6. (of a child) illegitimate (born to unmarried parents)

   Synonym: ilegítimo

   Antonym: legítimo

7. (of a drink) room-temperature (neither heated nor chilled)

Derived terms

Related terms

• natura (“nature”)
• naturaleza (“nature”)
• naturalidad (“naturalness”)

Further reading

• “natural” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish natural (“natural”).

Adjective

naturál

1. natural