natural history

noun

1

: a treatise on some aspect of nature

2

: the natural development of something (such as an organism or disease) over a period of time

3

: the study of natural objects especially in the field from an amateur or popular point of view

Examples of natural history in a Sentence

the natural history of bees

We went to the Natural History Museum.

Recent Examples on the Web

Outside what remains of a natural history museum Ellie climbs a T-Rex statue, but her real birthday treat awaits her inside. —Keith Phipps, Vulture, 19 May 2025

More than 50 million people visit natural history museums in the U.S. annually. —Bruce J. MacFadden, The Conversation, 8 May 2025

In fact, more than half of the specimens used in this study are held in a number of natural history museums around the world. —Grrlscientist, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025

Talwar cited a 2020 survey conducted in collaboration between the Yale program and the Wild Center, a natural history museum in Tupper Lake, N.Y., of its museum goers. —Shivani Vora, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for natural history

• consistory
• ethnohistory
• mystery

Kids Definition

natural history

noun

: the study of natural objects and especially plants and animals as they live in nature from an amateur or popular point of view

Medical Definition

natural history

noun

: the natural development of something (as an organism or disease) over a period of time

increasing knowledge of the natural histories of tumors

—H. S. N. Greene