nonnatural

Nonnatural is an adjective used to describe something that is not natural, meaning not arising through nature or natural processes, or not occurring in nature without human intervention. The term is most often found in technical, scientific, or philosophical writing where precision about origin, composition, or causation is important. It can refer to substances, materials, organisms, or phenomena that have been altered, synthesized, or created by humans, as well as to explanations or properties that lie outside naturalistic accounts.

In practice, nonnatural is typically contrasted with natural. It is often preferred in contexts where a neutral distinction is needed between what exists in nature and what has been artificially produced or modified. Because it lacks the strong moral or evaluative overtones sometimes associated with the word unnatural, nonnatural is common in scientific discourse, policy language, and some branches of philosophy.

Common usages include nonnatural amino acids or nonnatural flavors in chemistry and food science, nonnatural products or pollutants in environmental science, and nonnatural explanations or properties in philosophy. The term can also appear in discussions of naturalism, where nonnatural denotes entities or facts that are not accounted for by naturalistic explanations.

Etymologically, nonnatural is formed from the prefix non- attached to natural, yielding a straightforward negation. It is a comparatively modest term and is more technical or descriptive than everyday synonyms like unnatural or artificial.