noun
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nownIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnaʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
grammarstrictly
A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea: one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
computing
An object within a user interface to which a certain action or transformation (i.e., verb) is applied.
verb
transitive
To convert a word to a noun.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (grammar, strictly) A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea: one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
Used this way, noun is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a grammar or language-study use: it describes how language works, so it appears in teaching and reference writing.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use noun
- “A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb.
A noun that denotes a particular thing.
A noun that is derived from a verb.
A noun that is singular in form but refers to a group of people or things.
A noun that denotes any or all members of a class.
A noun that forms plurals.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Word Differences
Breath vs. Breathe: What’s the Difference?
Breath is the noun (a deep breath); breathe is the verb (breathe deeply). Here’s how the spelling and sound tell them apart.
Grammar
Noun, Verb, Adjective or Adverb? How to Tell the Difference
A plain-English guide to the four main parts of speech, with real sentences, word-family clues and practice so you can identify any word by the job it does.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.