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

[Carl Long]

Also:

*thingness*

   1. The quality of a material thing
      <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thing>; objectivity
      <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/objectivity>; actuality
      <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/actuality>; reality
      <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reality>.
      LINK: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thingness

Carl Long
Reference Librarian
Reading Public Library
http://www.reading.lib.pa.us/

(yes I quoted wikipedia ;)


Tom Cipullo wrote:
> here is the question: "What is a word that describes a thing, a state of being as a thing?"
>  
> this was over the phone; the best I could get is that there is a term (not a literary term) for when you use a state of being to describe a thing.  (he used the word "thing" a few times.)  He did not have an example, or he did, but he took it back: "human," when he realized that wasn't what he meant.  
>  
> he didn't like "eponymous" (which is the name a person to describe a thing).  maybe it's a grammatical term?
>  
> so "what do you call it when a term for a state of being is used to describe a thing?" 
>  
>  
> (sorry. if I knew of another place to post this I would. I'm just curious to know if someone knows this.)
>  
>  
> tom cipullo
> Palm Beach County Library System, Main Library
>
>  
>
>
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