Definition: The part of speech that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or action. A noun can function as the subject or object of a verb, the object of a preposition, or an appositive.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "name, noun"
Examples and Observations:
- "You must hear the bird's song without attempting to render it into nouns and verbs."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
- "Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place."
(Martha Graham)
- "One of the glories of English simplicity is the possibility of using the same word as noun and verb."
(Edward Sapir)
- "Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place."
(William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style)
- "Houston, we have a problem."
(Apollo 13)
- "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
(Wall Street)
- "I type 101 words a minute. But it's in my own language."
(Mitch Hedberg)
- "A sold-out house my first night back. Do you have any idea what kind of pressure that is? I could have been at home in my warm bed, playing Nintendo."
(Richard Pryor)
- "I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away."
(George Carlin)
Pronunciation: nown
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