| noun |
| Definition:
A non-pronoun that is used to identify people, places, and things. Note: Pronouns are not nouns because, by definition, they are words that are used in place of nouns — and that which is used in place of a noun is not a noun. |
| Example: In the sentence The dog stared at the cat, the words dog and cat are nouns. |
| Etymology: The word derives via Anglo-French from the Latin nomen, name or noun. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The first OED citation is from 1398: "Lux and lumen is liŠt[?] in Englissche, butt in latine is difference bitwene þilke twey nownes." (Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. viii. xxviii. (Bodl. MS.)) |