Noun

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /naÊŠn/
• : IPA: /næːn/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠn

Origin

From Anglo-Norman noun, non, nom, from Latin nōmen ("name").

Full definition of noun

Noun

1. (grammar) A word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.

Usage notes

In English (and in many other languages), a noun can serve as the subject or object of a verb. For example, the English words table and computer are nouns. See Part of speech.

Synonyms

• name, nameword
• substantive

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• nominal

Verb

1. (transitive) To convert a word to a noun.
• 1992, Lewis Acrelius Froman, Language and Power: Books III, IV, and VFor example, that females are different from but equal to males is oxymoronic by virtue of the nouned status of female and male as kinds of persons.
• 2000, Andrew J. DuBrin, The complete idiot's guide to leadershipHowever, too much nouning makes you sound bureaucratic, immature, and verbally challenged. Top executives convert far fewer nouns into verbs than do workers at lower levels.

Anagrams

• non-U