Innate \In"nate\, a. [L. innatus; pref. in- in + natus born, p.
p. of nasci to be born. See Native.]
1. Inborn; native; natural; as, innate vigor; innate
eloquence.
2. (Metaph.) Originating in, or derived from, the
constitution of the intellect, as opposed to acquired from
experience; as, innate ideas. See A priori, Intuitive.
There is an innate light in every man, discovering
to him the first lines of duty in the common notions
of good and evil. --South.
Men would not be guilty if they did not carry in
their mind common notions of morality,innate and
written in divine letters. --Fleming
(Origen).
If I could only show,as I hope I shall . . . how
men, barely by the use of their natural faculties,
may attain to all the knowledge they have, without
the help of any innate impressions; and may arrive
at certainty without any such original notions or
principles. --Locke.
3. (Bot.) Joined by the base to the very tip of a filament;
as, an innate anther. --Gray.
Innate ideas (Metaph.), ideas, as of God, immortality,
right and wrong, supposed by some to be inherent in the
mind, as a priori principles of knowledge.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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