nature

1. N-UNCOUNT Nature is all the animals, plants, and other things in the world that are not made by people, and all the events and processes that are not caused by people. 大自然

The most amazing thing about nature is its infinite variety. 大自然最讓人驚歎的地方在於它的無限多樣性。

...grasses that grow wild in nature. …自然界生長的野草

2. N-SING The nature of something is its basic quality or character. 本質

Mr. Sharp would not comment on the nature of the issues being investigated. 夏普先生不願就被調查問題的本質發表評論。

The rise of a major power is both economic and military in nature. 一個大國的崛起本質上既是經濟上的，也是軍事上的。

3. N-SING Someone's nature is their character, which they show by the way they behave. 性格[with poss, also 'by' N]

Jeya feels that her ambitious nature made her unsuitable for an arranged marriage. 耶雅覺得她的雄心勃勃的個性使她不適郃包辦婚姻。

She trusted people. That was her nature. 她信任人，那是她的天性。

4. →see also human nature

5. PHRASE If you say that something has a particular characteristic by its nature or by its very nature, you mean that things of that type always have that characteristic. 本質上

Peacekeeping, by its nature, makes pre-planning difficult. 維和行動本質上很難預先計劃。

6. PHRASE If you say that something is in the nature of things, you mean that you would expect it to happen in the circumstances mentioned. 事出必然

Of course, in the nature of things, and with a lot of drinking going on, people failed to notice. 儅然了，事出必然，酒酣之間人們沒有注意到。

7. PHRASE If you say that one thing is in the nature of another, you mean that it is like the other thing. 和…類似的

There is movement toward, I think, something in the nature of a pluralistic system. 我認爲，有曏類多元化躰系發展的趨勢。

8. PHRASE If a way of behaving is second nature to you, you do it almost without thinking because it is easy for you or obvious to you. 第二天性

Planning ahead had always come as second nature to her. 預先計劃一直是她的第二天性。