verbal noun

American  

[vur-buhl noun] / ˈvɜr bəl ˈnaʊn /

noun

Grammar.

1. a noun derived from a verb, especially by a process applicable to most or all verbs. In English, a verbal noun uses the -ing form, as in , or the infinitive form, as in In Latin, examples of verbal nouns include dictiō “act of speaking, utterance” (from dīcere “to say, tell, speak”) and cantus “singing, song” (from canere ”to sing“).

   Eating is fun

   To see is to believe.

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verbal noun British  

noun

1. a noun derived from a verb, such as smoking in the sentence smoking is bad for you See also gerund

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Etymology

Origin of verbal noun

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

verbal noun

The future participle passive is everywhere freely used as an infinitive or verbal noun; thus, H. calnā, E.H. calab, the act of going, to go.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various

The so-called imperfect subjunctive turns out to be a verbal noun with a preposition.

From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

It was probably pronounced Ya-kayan, and meant, as a verbal noun, He that strengthens; and thence, firm, stable, upright.

From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Pike, Albert

When a word in "-ing" is modified by "the" or some other adjective, it is an abstract verbal noun, and cannot have an object.

From Practical Exercises in English by Buehler, Huber Gray

"Munázirah" the verbal noun of which, "Munázarah," may also mean "dispute."

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 09 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir