VERBAL NOUN Definition & Meaning

verbal noun

[vur-buhl noun]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Grammar.

a noun derived from a verb, especially by a process applicable to most or all verbs. In English, a verbal noun uses the -ing form, as in , or the infinitive form, as in In Latin, examples of verbal nouns include �徱��پ�ō “act of speaking, utterance” (from ��ī�� “to say, tell, speak”) and cantus “singing, song” (from canere ”to sing“).
Eating is fun
To see is to believe.

verbal noun

noun

a noun derived from a verb, such as smoking in the sentence smoking is bad for you See also gerund

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of verbal noun¹

First recorded in 1700–10

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Before a verbal noun or an infinitive: On the point or verge of; going; in act of.

From

Possessive case, 64, 67; rules for forming, 67; separate possession, in the, 67; with verbal nouns, 67 ff.; of phrase substituted for, 67; use of the apostrophe in the, 159.

From

In the examples above, the subject of the action is a single, unmodified term, immediately preceding the verbal noun, and the construction is as good as any that could be used.

From

The so-called imperfect subjunctive turns out to be a verbal noun with a preposition.

From

Pr. present and imperative have survived, but all other tenses are made from verbal nouns or participles.

From

verbally verbascum

Browse