anthimeria
noun/ænθɪˈmɪəɹiə/
Etymology Learned borrowing from New Latin antimeria, from Latin anti- (from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ- (ăntĭ-, “opposite”)) + Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part”) + Latin -ia, with non-etymological ⟨h⟩.
1
Rhetoric, Usually The use of a word from one word class or part of speech as if it were from another, in English typically the use of a noun as if it were a verb.
- Not only is "I googled that hottie" great publicity for the company, but it's fresh and funny and an excellent example of how anthimeria gives English an invigorating slap upside the head.2006 July 9, Ben Yagoda, “Language: The moving parts of speech”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Consider some other examples of anthimeria using slightly different types of words in the noun slot: Crystal's slogans "Full of Wow" and "Full of Yum," and the popular use of fail as a noun, as in "an epic fail" or "buckets of fail."2014 May 13, James Harbeck, “How advertisers trick your brain by turning adjectives into nouns”, in The Week:
- Related terms
- conversion, zero derivation