Substantivise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To turn an adjective, verb or other word into a noun by grammatical or derivational means ; to treat a word or phrase as though it were a noun
2. Changing a word from another part of speech into a noun form ; using an expression in the function of a noun within a sentence
3. Converting a term into a noun, whether by suffixation or conversion ; regarding some other word or group of words as functioning as a noun

Etymology: "Substantivise" is a plain formation: the adjective-and-noun "substantive" with the verbal suffix "-ise" (also spelled "-ize" in American English) added to it. The suffix turns a word into a verb meaning "make into" or "treat as" the thing named by the base, so to substantivise is to make a word function as a noun. The base word carries the more interesting history. "Substantive" comes from Latin "substantivus," from "substantia," meaning "substance" or "essence," so something substantive was once understood as having real, independent existence. Grammarians later applied the term to nouns as the words that name substances, and the sense of "a noun" was reached through that grammatical usage. The verb built on it follows the same logic: a grammarian substantivises a word when a word that is normally something else, such as an adjective, is used as a noun, as in "the rich" or "the good."

Synonyms: substantivize, nominalise, nominalize