Adnouns

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Words, such as attributive adjectives, that describe or qualify a noun within a phrase or sentence
2. Modifiers of nouns in grammar, including adjectives used before the nouns they describe
3. Grammatical items that serve to limit or characterize a noun, especially adjectives placed directly before it

Etymology: An adnoun is a grammatical term for a word that modifies a noun, such as an adjective used attributively. The plural "adnouns" is simply the form for more than one such word, so its history is that of the single term. The term was formed in English by combining the Latin prefix "ad-", meaning "to" or "toward", with the English word "noun", which itself comes from Old French "nom" and Latin "nomen". The result is a transparent compound: a word that sits alongside, or attaches to, a noun. Grammarians coined it on the model of similar terms, so its meaning follows directly from its parts rather than from any older use.