Nouned

Nouned is an informal, nonstandard term used in discussions of word formation to describe the act or result of turning a word into a noun. In formal linguistics, the standard terms for this idea are nominalization (when a verb or adjective becomes a noun) or denominal derivation (when a noun serves as the core of a new form). Because nouned is not widely attested in dictionaries, it appears mainly in casual writing, blogs, or discussions about language play.

English forms nouns from other parts of speech in several ways. Affixation yields nouns such as happiness (from happy) and movement (from move). Zero-derivation or conversion creates nouns directly from existing words, as in run (from the verb run) or a run in sports terminology. Compounding also yields noun forms, as in greenhouse or bookshelf. The hypothetical “nouned” form would refer to the completed result of such a process, or to the act of converting a word into a noun, in a nonstandard or playful sense.

In formal writing, linguists typically prefer nominalized or denominal terms to describe noun formation, to avoid ambiguity. The use of nouned is generally limited to informal commentary or language-formation discussions where the speaker is illustrating a point about how words can become nouns. As with many neologisms or slang constructions, its acceptance varies by audience and context.

See also: nominalization, denominal, word formation, conversion (linguistics).