noun
any member of a class of words that can function as the main or only elements of subjects of verbs (A dog just barked), or of objects of verbs or prepositions (to send money from home), and that in English can take plural forms and possessive endings (Three of his buddies want to borrow John's laptop). Nouns are often described as referring to persons, places, things, states, or qualities, and the word noun is itself often used as an attributive modifier, as in noun compound; noun group.
Origin of noun
1Grammar notes for noun
As we see from its dictionary definition, a noun can name not only a physical thing but also abstract things such as a state ( happiness ) or a quality ( beauty ). The word is defined further in terms of the way it functions in the language—as a subject or object in a sentence or as the object of a preposition. In any of those positions, it can be modified by an adjective or adjective phrase: a talented but quirky artist.
Nouns are typically said to fall into two categories: proper noun and common noun. A proper noun designates a particular person, place, or thing and is normally capitalized: Shakespeare, Mexico, the Pentagon. A common noun refers to a generic person, place, or thing: teacher, classroom, smartphone. The plural form of a common noun names a set or group. (Proper nouns are pluralized only in special circumstances: There are many Springfields in the United States. Oh, no, the Smiths are coming to dinner again. )
To form the plural, most common nouns simply add an -s ( teachers, classrooms, smartphones ). Some nouns ending in –o (but not all) add -es. Nouns ending in the sounds [ch], /tʃ/, [j], /dʒ/, [sh], /ʃ/, [zh], /ʒ/, [s], /s/, or [z] /z/ also have plurals ending in -es ( bus/buses, ash, ashes, judge/judges ). Several nouns form the plural in a different way. These include child/children, knife/knives, and a number of others. Some nouns have a plural form identical to that of the singular: sheep/sheep. Seven English nouns form their plural by changing the vowel in the middle of the word: woman/women, man/men, goose/geese, tooth/teeth, foot/feet, louse/lice. (Can you think of the seventh one?*) And then, of course, there are nouns borrowed from other languages that keep their non-English plurals ( bacterium/bacteria, chapeau/chapeaux, kibbutz/kibbutzim ).
But not all nouns can be pluralized. Thus we have another way to categorize nouns. Those that can be thought of in the plural are called count nouns; the things they name can be counted and enumerated. Other nouns, called mass nouns or noncount nouns, name things that are usually not counted, even when the amount grows larger. This class includes nouns that refer to a substance ( water, sand, oxygen, electricity ), a quality ( kindness, honesty ), or an abstract concept ( happiness, health ). There are exceptions: some substances can be spoken of in the plural if you are referring to various kinds ( The wines of France are known throughout the world ) or to units or containers of the substance ( We’ll have three coffees and two teas ).
Certain other nouns that name something relatively concrete, like furniture, flatware, hardware, and software, are also treated as mass nouns. This means that in English we do not say “This computer comes with the latest softwares.” Nor do we say “I’m buying a furniture” (although we can buy a couch or a table ), since mass nouns normally cannot be immediately preceded by “a,” “an,” or a numeral. Instead, we use the singular form even when referring to large quantities, saying things like “a lot of software” or “too much furniture.” This distinction between count nouns and mass nouns, complex though it may seem, is pretty much absorbed automatically if you grow up speaking English. But it can be one of the most difficult things to assimilate for people learning English as a foreign language. The answer? Read, read, read. And listen.
* mouse/mice
Other words for noun
Other words from noun
- nounal, adjective
- noun·al·ly, adverb
- Compare common noun, proper noun; mass noun, collective noun.
- See also noun adjunct, noun clause, noun phrase.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use noun in a sentence
Pinker notes that roughly a fifth of English verbs began life as nouns or adjectives.
Go Ahead, End With a Preposition: Grammar Rules We All Can Live With | Nick Romeo | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNotice there is no harm to clarity when you use less with count nouns.
Time for another round of a dispiriting little game I call “Swap The Nouns.”
What If Israeli Would-Be-Lynchers Were Palestinians? | Emily L. Hauser | July 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNouns are adjectives, subjects disagree with objects, modifiers dangle, malapropisms abound.
James T. Kirk and Spock (nouns) Main characters in Star Trek.
‘Star Trek’ for Dummies: Get Ready for ‘Into Darkness’ With Our Primer | Sujay Kumar | May 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The Provençal has not even the formal distinction of the nouns in al, which in French make their plural in aux.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerLike the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as well as those in -èire, are also used as adjectives.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerOne third of the words in this paragraph are descriptive nouns and adjectives, none of which the reader wishes to change.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) WebsterTo show the use of adjectives and nouns in description, the following from Kipling is a good illustration.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) WebsterBe careful to select things that have been made 82 happy, and to use adjectives and nouns that are full of joy.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
British Dictionary definitions for noun
/ (naʊn) /
: Abbreviation: N, n Related adjective: nominal
a word or group of words that refers to a person, place, or thing or any syntactically similar word
(as modifier): a noun phrase
Origin of noun
1Derived forms of noun
- nounal, adjective
- nounally, adverb
- nounless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for noun
The part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or idea. The following words are nouns: child, town, granite, kindness, government, elephant, and Taiwan. In sentences, nouns generally function as subjects or as objects.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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