| conversion |
| Definition:
A word-formation process whereby a new word is created by using an existing word as a different part of speech, e.g., using a noun as a verb. Note: Because English has lost so many of its inflections, this kind of language change happens easily and often. |
| Example: When it entered English from Norman French in the 11th century, the word market was a noun that solely denoted a place where sales or barter occurred (e.g., "I went to the market"). The word now can also be used as a verb denoting the act itself of selling or promoting (e.g., "I marketed my board game"). |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first citation in this sense is from 1928: "It seems to me more logical to say that the adjective is converted and to call the result a conversion-noun than to use the term converted noun in the latter sense." (Bergener, Conversion of Adjectives into Nouns, 2) |