naturlige

Naturlige is the plural form of the Norwegian and Danish adjective naturlig, meaning natural, inherent, or in accordance with nature. The base form naturlig describes something that comes from nature or is not artificial, and naturlige is used when the noun being described is plural.

In usage, naturlige appears in a wide range of contexts. It can refer to natural phenomena, materials, or processes, as in natural phenomena (naturlige fenomener) or natural materials (naturlige materialer). It is also used in scientific and everyday language to contrast what is natural with what is artificial or man-made, for example natural causes (naturlige årsaker) versus artificial causes.

In mathematics, the term natürlichen is used to denote the natural numbers, typically the counting numbers or including zero depending on convention, as in naturlige tall meaning natural numbers. The form adapts to the noun’s number and gender in Norwegian and Danish: it remains naturlige when describing plural nouns.

Etymology generally traces naturlig back to natur, from the broader family of words relating to nature. The suffix -lig creates an adjective meaning “like” or “characteristic of,” yielding “natural” or “natural-like.” The concept spans linguistics, philosophy, science, and everyday speech, where it helps distinguish what is innate or nature-derived from what is artificial or synthetic.

See also: natural, nature, natural numbers, artificial.