Is there a word to describe using a noun as a verb, or an adjective as a noun?

Question

I'm reading a poet who frequently uses verbs as nouns (not turning them into nouns, but literally using them as if they are nouns), adjectives as verbs, etc.

Is there a literary term or word to describe this?

Answer 1

I do not believe there is any ONE term used to denote all the different ways of transforming (or substituting) one part of speech into another

But there are various terms used for specific ways of turning one part of speech into another, whether by changing the first firm (esp. by adding suffixes), changing the accented syllable OR not changing the form at all.

If the original is a noun form, we could refer to a
NOMINATIVE or DENOMINATIVE (verb, adjective)

If you start with a verb:
VERBAL, DEVERBAL, DEVERBATIVE (nouns)

A common, established example of the latter is the 'verbal noun' known as a gerund (based on the present tense participle).

One recent writer uses the term "verbing" to refer to the use of a noun or noun phrase as a verb.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/adjectiv/denom.htm

These sorts of things have been going on in English since the beginning. We use them all the time without thinking about it. When we tend to notice it is when we come across a NEW or unfamiliar case. Many, for instance, do not like the modern-day use of "impact" (originally a noun) as a verb (note that in this case there is a shift in the syllable accented). Just yesterday I heard Tony Blair use one not familiar to Americans -- he referred to the press "rubbish(ing)" a person. Of course, Americans have long used "trash" in precisely the same way.

Answer 2

Noun - a name of person place or thing i.e: chair -Proper noun - a specific name of a person place or thing (this should always have a capital letter) i.e: Australia -Common noun - a general name of a person place or thing i.e: country -Pronoun - a word that replaces a noun i.e: she Rebecca is a girl. SHE is a girl. Adjective - a word used to describe a noun i.e: big Verb - an action word i.e: run Adverb - a word that describes an action i.e: slowly Antonym - the opposite word i.e. an antonym for fast is slow. Synonym - a word with a similar meaning i.e fast is a synonym for quick. Homonym/Homophone - words that sound alike but don't have the same meaning i.e: hall, hole and whole are homonyms. Acronym - a word formed from the first letters of a series of words i.e: LOL = Laugh Out Loud Abbreviation - a word that has been shortened i.e: St. = Street or Station Conjunction - a word that had been made out of two words with an apostrophe to show letters left out i.e: shouldn't = should not That's the basic stuff, but if you want to know some other stuff like simile, metaphor, personification, emotive language, topic sentence, paragraph structure (TEEL) or different parts of a sentence then I'll just edit this and add them in.

Answer 3

Noun As A Verb

Answer 4

I couldn't actually figure out what you are trying to say. but a verb if preceded by the word TO can actually be used as a noun or an adjective. it is an infinitive. example: To collect stamps is fun... the subject of the sentence (which is supposed to be a noun) is TO COLLECT. and in the following sentence, TO SEE is an adjective that modifies man: He is the man to see. moreover, in the following sentence, TO WATCH is an adverb that modifies painful (an adjective): This game is painful to watch.

Answer 5

Pardon my horrible screen name, but one of the words you're looking for is denominalization. Using a word that is not a verb, as a verb.

Example: if you have trouble with my source, Google it yourself.