nature versus nurture

English

Alternative forms

• nature vs nurture
• nature vs. nurture

Etymology

The phrase was coined in the mid-1800s by the English Victorian polymath Francis Galton in discussion about the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement.

Phrase

nature versus nurture

1. Comparing how a person's characteristics are formed, either by innate biological factors such as genetics (nature), or by upbringing and life experience (nurture).