614: natant and natal Aug 13, 2016

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The rare adjective, 'natant'—similar to the synonym for 'indoor-swimmingpool', 'natatorium' or 'natation' meaning 'swimming skill'—means 'swimming'. The word gets its origins from the Latin 'natant-' of the same meaning. Some people have tried to make a connection to the much more common adjective, 'natal' which comes from the Latin, 'nat-' which means ‘born’. Either way, outside of scientific and or medical usages, the words' Germanic equivalents tend to be much more popular, and far less formal.

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