[Publib] "what is the word for..?" stumper, part 2

[Fred Beisser]

And then there is always this:

>
> Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 
> <http://dictionary.reference.com/help/web1913.html> - Cite This Source 
> <http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=existential&ia=web1913> 
> - Share This 
> <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/existential#sharethis>
>
> *Existential*
>
> Ex`is*ten"tial\, a. Having existence. [Archaic] --Bp. Barlow. 
> --Ex`is*ten"tial*ly 
> <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Ex%60is*tential*ly>, adv. 
> [Archaic] Existentially as well as essentially intelligent. --Colerige.
>
> Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Fred Beisser
www.elbertcountylibrary.org
(Colorado)

Rachel Davis wrote:
> *"Tom Cipullo" <cipullot at pbclibrary.org 
> <mailto:cipullot at pbclibrary.org>> writes:
> *so "what do you call it when a term for a state of being is used to 
> describe a thing?"
>
> Or, could it be an "adjectival noun?":
>
> An /Adjective/ <http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/adjective.html> 
> can sometimes function as a /Noun/ 
> <http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/noun.html>; /the young/, /the 
> rich/, etc. These are /Adjectival Nouns/, meaning the people who are 
> young, the people who are rich, etc.
>
> Rachel
>
> Rachel Q. Davis
> Children's Librarian
> Thomas Memorial Library
> 6 Scott Dyer Road
> Cape Elizabeth, ME  04107
> 207-799-1720
>
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