Dictionary of English - noun

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This is a grammatical part of speech that names a person, animal, object, quality, idea, or time. In English many simple words are both noun and verb jump; reign; rain. Adjectives are sometimes used as nouns: a local man; one of the locals.

A common noun does not begin with a capital letter: child; cat, whereas a proper noun does, because it is the name of a particular person, animal, or place: Jane; Rover; Norfolk. A concrete noun refers to things that can be sensed: dog; box, whereas an abstract noun relates to generalizations abstracted from life as we observe it: fear; condition; truth. A countable noun can have a plural form book: books, while an uncountable noun or mass noun cannot: dough; weather. Many English nouns can be used both countably and uncountably, for example, wine: Have some wine; it's one of our best wines.

A collective noun is singular in form but refers to a group: flock; family; committee, and a compound noun is made up of two or more nouns: teapot; baseball team; car-factory strike committee. A verbal noun is formed from a verb as a gerund or otherwise: build: building; regulate: regulation.

Red and white are traditional colours in South East Asia. Red represents universal fellowship and equality. White stands for purity and virtue. Effective date: 3 December 1959. >>