nominalize

American  

[nom-uh-nl-ahyz] / ˈnɒm ə nlˌaɪz /

especially British, nominalise

verb (used with object)

nominalized, nominalizing

1. to convert (another part of speech) into a noun, as in changing the adjective lowly into the lowly or the verb legalize into legalization.

2. to convert (an underlying clause) into a noun phrase, as in changing he drinks to his drinking in I am worried about his drinking.

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Other Word Forms

• nominalization adjective

Etymology

Origin of nominalize

First recorded in 1650–60; nominal + -ize

Example Sentences

It may be definitely nominalized or verbalized by the affixing of elements that are exclusively nominal or verbal in force.

From Project Gutenberg

The nominalizing -’i and the indicative -ma are not fused form-affixes, they are simply additions of formal import.

From Project Gutenberg

It may still be nominalized; inikwihl’minih’isit-’i means “the former small fires in the house, the little fires that were once burning in the house.”

From Project Gutenberg