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. 大自然最让人惊叹的地方在于它的无限多样性。

...grasses that grow wild in nature. …自然界生长的野草

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

Mr. Sharp would not comment on the nature of the issues being investigated. 夏普先生不愿就被调查问题的本质发表评论。

The rise of a major power is both economic and military in nature. 一个大国的崛起本质上既是经济上的，也是军事上的。

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. 耶雅觉得她的雄心勃勃的个性使她不适合包办婚姻。

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. 本质上

Peacekeeping, by its nature, makes pre-planning difficult. 维和行动本质上很难预先计划。

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. 当然了，事出必然，酒酣之间人们没有注意到。

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

There is movement toward, I think, something in the nature of a pluralistic system. 我认为，有向类多元化体系发展的趋势。

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. 预先计划一直是她的第二天性。