Collective Noun
Collective Noun :
An abstract noun is the name of a quality or general idea.
Examples : blackness, freshness, smoothness, weight, height, length, depth, strength, health, honesty, beauty, liberty, eternity, satisfaction, precision, splendor, terror, disappointment, elegance, existence, grace, peace.
Many abstract nouns are derived from adjectives.
Examples : greenness (from green), depth (from deep), freedom (from free), wisdom (from wise), rotundity (from rotund), falsity or falseness (from false), bravery (from brave).
A collective noun is the name of a group, class or multitude and not of a single person, place or thing.
Examples : crowd, group, legislature, squadron, sheaf, battalion, squad, Associated Press, Mediterranean Steamship Company, Senior Class, School Board.
The same noun may be abstract in one of its meanings, collective in another.
They believe in fraternity. [Abstract.]
The student joined a fraternity. [Collective.]
Abstract nouns are usually common. But abstract nouns become proper when the quality or idea is personified.
Collective nouns may be either proper or common.
A noun consisting of two or more words united is called a compound noun .
Examples : common nouns - tablecloth, sidewalk, lampshade, bedclothes, steamboat, fireman, washerwoman, jackknife, hatband, headache, flatiron, innkeeper, knife-edge, steeple-climber, brother-in-law, commander-in-chief, window curtain, insurance company.
Examples : proper nouns - Johnson, Williamson, Cooperstown, Louisville, Holywood, Elk-horn, Auburndale, Stratford-on-Avon, Lowell Junction.
As the examples show, the parts of a compound noun may be joined (with or without a hyphen) or written separately. In some words usage is fixed, in others it varies. The hyphen, however, is less used than formerly.
Note : The first part of a compound noun usually limits the second after the manner of an adjective. Indeed, many expressions may be regarded either (1) as compounds or (2) as phrases containing an adjective and a noun. Thus railway conductor may be taken as a compound noun, or as a noun (conductor) limited by an adjective (railway).
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