verb
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French verbe, from Latin verbum (“word”), from Proto-Indo-European *werdʰo-. Etymological twin of word.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
verb (plural verbs)
- (grammar) A word that indicates an action, event, or state.
- The word “speak” is an English verb.
- (obsolete) Any word; a vocable.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of South to this entry?)
Usage notes[edit]
Verbs compose a fundamental category of words in most languages. In an English clause, a verb forms the head of the predicate of the clause. In many languages, verbs uniquely conjugate for tense and aspect.
Quotations[edit]
- 2001 — Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, p 221
- Then you could say that the doorway exploded. But the particular verb doesn't do the action justice. Rather, it shattered into infinitesimal pieces.
Hyponyms[edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:verb
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
(grammar) a word that indicates an action, event, or a state
|
|
Verb[edit]
verb (third-person singular simple present verbs, present participle verbing, simple past and past participle verbed)
- (transitive, nonstandard, colloquial) To use any word that is not a verb (especially a noun) as if it were a verb.
- a. 1981 Feb 22, unknown Guardian editor as quoted by William Safire, On Language, in New York Times, pSM3
- Haig, in congressional hearings before his confirmatory, paradoxed his auditioners by abnormalling his responds so that verbs were nouned, nouns verbed and adjectives adverbised. He techniqued a new way to vocabulary his thoughts so as to informationally uncertain anybody listening about what he had actually implicationed... .
- 1997, David. F. Griffiths, Desmond J. Higham, learning LATEX, p8
- Nouns should never be verbed.
- 2005 Oct 5, Jeffrey Mattison, Letters, in The Christian Science Monitor, p8
- In English, verbing nouns is okay
- a. 1981 Feb 22, unknown Guardian editor as quoted by William Safire, On Language, in New York Times, pSM3
- (used as a neutral, unspecific verb, often in linguistics and the social sciences) To perform any action that is normally expressed by a verb.
- 1946: Rand Corporation, The Rand Paper Series
- For example, one-part versions of the proposition "The doctor pursued the lawyer" were "The doctor verbed the object," ...
- 1964: Journal of Mathematical Psychology
- Each sentence had the same basic structure: The subject transitive verbed the object who intransitive verbed in the location.
- 1998: Marilyn A. Walker, Aravind Krishna Joshi, Centering Theory in Discourse
- The sentence frame was Dan verbed Ben approaching the store. This sentence frame was followed in all cases by He went inside.
- 1946: Rand Corporation, The Rand Paper Series
Quotations[edit]
- For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
See also[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
verb m (plural verbs)
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
Declension[edit]
declension of verb
Swedish[edit]
Noun[edit]
verb n
- a verb
Declension[edit]
Declension of verb
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- verb in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with audio links
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Grammar
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English nonstandard terms
- English colloquialisms
- en:Linguistics
- English autological terms
- Etymological twins
- en:Parts of speech
- en:Verbs
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan nouns
- ca:Parts of speech
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian nouns
- ro:Parts of speech
- Swedish nouns
- sv:Grammar
- sv:Parts of speech
