Supernatural, a.
Etymology: [Pref. super- + natural: cf. OF. supernaturel, F. surnaturel.]
Being beyond, or exceeding, the power or laws of nature; miraculous.
Syn. -- Preternatural. -- Supernatural, Preternatural. Preternatural signifies beside nature, and supernatural, above or beyond nature. What is very greatly aside from the ordinary course of things is preternatural; what is above or beyond the established laws of the universe is supernatural. The dark day which terrified all Europe nearly a century ago was preternatural; the resurrection of the dead is supernatural. "That form which the earth is under at present is preternatural, like a statue made and broken again." T. Burnet. "Cures wrought by medicines are natural operations; but the miraculous ones wrought by Christ and his apostles were supernatural." Boyle. That is supernatural, whether it be, that is either not in the chain of natural cause and effect, or which acts on the chain of cause and effect in nature, from without the chain. Bushnell. We must not view creation as supernatural, but we do look upon it as miraculous. McCosh. The supernatural, whatever is above and beyond the scope, or the established course, of the laws of nature. "Nature and the supernatural." H. Bushnell.
Shades of meaning
The supernatural (super, above) is above or superior to the recognized powers of nature; the preternatural (preter, beyond) is aside from or beyond the recognized results or operations of natural law, often in the sense of inauspicious; as, a preternatural gloom. Miraculous is more emphatic and specific than supernatural, as referring to the direct personal intervention of divine power. Some hold that a miracle, as the raising of the dead, is a direct suspension and even violation of natural laws by the fiat of the Creator, and hence is, in the strictest sense, supernatural; others hold that the miracle is simply the calling forth of a power residing in the laws of nature, but not within their ordinary operation, and dependent on a distinct act of God, so that the miraculous might be termed "extranatural," rather than supernatural. All that is beyond human power is superhuman; as, prophecy gives evidence of superhuman knowledge; the word is sometimes applied to remarkable manifestations of human power, surpassing all that is ordinary.