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

It is a coincidence—perhaps something more—that in the Quichua language huracan, third person singular present indicative of the verbal noun huraca, means “a stream of water falls perpendicularly.”

From The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

What is the rule about names composed of a plain noun and a verbal noun?

From Compound Words Typographic Technical Series for Apprentices #36 by Hamilton, Frederick W. (Frederick William)

The verbal nouns and participles are nearly the same as in Mth.-Mg., the first verbal noun and the present participle being mār and mārat, as in Mg.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

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

Leaving should be used either as a gerund, leaving a posterity, or as a verbal noun, the leaving of a posterity.

From The Coverley Papers by Various