innate

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Existing in a person or animal from birth; natural rather than learned.

   She has an innate talent for music.

2. 2
   adj

   Coming from instinct rather than from experience or teaching.

   Babies have an innate fear of falling.

The adjective is first attested in the 1420s, the verb in 1602; from Middle English innat(e) (“innate, inborn”), borrowed from Latin innātus (“inborn, innate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), perfect active participle of innāscor (“to be born in, grow up in”), from in- (“in, at on”) + nāscor (“to be born”); see natal, native. The verb is derived from the adjective, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

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