In 891 c 7 the use of ϕύσις here criticised is expressly said to be that of ὁπόσοι πώποτε τῶν περὶ φύσεως ἐφήψαντο ζητημάτων.
2. Ar. Phys. Β, 1. 193 a 9, δοκεῖ δ' ἡ φύσις καὶ ἡ οὐσία τῶν φύσει ὄντων ἐνίοις εἶναι τὸ πρῶτον ἐνυπάρχον ἑκάστῳ, ἀρρύθμιστον καθ' ἑαυτό, οἷον κλίνης φύσις τὸ ξύλον, ἀνδριάντος δ' ὁ χαλκός. σημεῖον δέ φησιν Ἀντιφῶν ὅτι, εἴ τις κατορύξειε κλίνην καὶ λάβοι δύναμιν ἡ σηπεδὼν ὥστε ἀνεῖναι βλαστόν, οὐκ ἂν γενέσθαι κλίνην ἀλλὰ ξύλον.
Antiphon the Sophist was a contemporary of Sokrates.
3. Ar. Phys. Α, 6. 189 b 2, οἱ μίαν τινὰ φύσιν εἶναι λέγοντες τὸ πᾶν, οἷον ὕδωρ ἢ πῦρ ἢ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτων. Β, 1. 193 a 21, οἱ μὲν πῦρ, οἱ δὲ γῆν, οἱ δ' ἀέρα φασίν, οἱ δὲ ὕδωρ, οἱ δ' ἔνια τούτων, οἱ δὲ πάντα ταῦτα τὴν φύσιν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὄντων. Γ, 4. 203 a 16, οἱ δὲ περὶ φύσεως πάντες ὑποτιθέασιν ἑτέραν τινὰ φύσιν τῷ ἀπείρῳ τῶν λεγομένων στοιχείων, οἷον ὕδωρ ἢ ἀέρα ἢ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτων.
4. Ar. Met. Δ, 4. 1014 b 16, ϕύσις λέγεται ἕνα μὲν τρόπον ἡ τῶν φυομένων γένεσις, οἷον εἴ τις ἐπεκτείνας λέγοι τὸ ῦ.
There is no doubt that this means that, to Aristotle, ϕύσις did not immediately suggest the verb ϕύομαι. That has a long υ and ϕύσις has a short υ. We need not discuss the question whether Aristotle's difficulty is a real one or not. All that concerns us is that he felt it.
5. Aristotle, Προτρεπτικός, fr. 52 Rose (ap. Iambi. Protr. p. 38. 22 Pistelli), ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν περὶ φύσεως (ἐστί τις ἐπιμέλεια καὶ τέχνη)· πολὺ γὰρ πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον τῶν αἰτίων καὶ τῶν στοιχείων εἶναι φρόνησιν ἢ τῶν ὑστέρων· οὐ γὰρ ταῦτα τῶν ἄκρων οὐδ᾽ ἐκ τούτων τὰ πρῶτα πέφυκεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἐκείνων καὶ δι᾽ ἐκείνων τἆλλα γίγνεται καὶ συνίσταται φανερῶς. εἴτε γὰρ πῦρ εἴτ᾽ ἀὴρ εἴτ᾽ ἀριθμὸς εἴτε ἄλλαι τινὲς φύσεις αἰτίαι καὶ πρῶται τῶν ἄλλων, ἀδύνατον τῶν ἄλλων τι γιγνώσκειν ἐκείνας ἀγνοοῦντας· πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις ἢ λόγον γνωρίζοι συλλαβὰς ἀγνοῶν, ἢ ταύτας ἐπίσταιτο μηδὲν τῶν στοιχείων εἰδώς;
The importance of this passage for our purpose is that it is from a popular work, in which the phraseology is Academic (e.g. the use of φρόνησις for what Aristotle himself called σοφία).
The usage of Theophrastos is the same, but of course he simply reproduces Aristotle.
