Nominalising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of converting verbs or adjectives into their noun forms involves altering grammatical categories
2. This process entails changing verbs and adjectives into nouns to create nominal expressions
3. The process of transforming verbs or adjectives into nouns to function as noun phrases

Etymology: "Nominalising" is the present participle of "nominalise", a verb built from "nominal" plus the suffix "-ise". The base "nominal" comes from Latin "nominalis", from "nomen", meaning "name", and it reached English in the sense of relating to names or nouns, later gaining the broader sense of being in name only. The suffix "-ise" (also spelled "-ize" in American usage) comes through French from Greek "-izein", and it turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning to make or treat something in a certain way. Put together, "nominalise" means to turn something into a noun, or to treat a word, adjective, verb or clause as if it were a noun. So "running" in "running is good for you" has been nominalised: a verb has been converted into the grammatical role of a noun. The "-ing" ending of this form is the ordinary English marker for a participle, which is why the same spelling can serve both as a verb form and as a noun.

Synonyms: nominative, labeling