attributive noun

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attributive noun (plural attributive nouns)

  1. (grammar) A noun that modifies another noun attributively and that is optional (that is, it can be removed without affecting the grammar of the sentence); a noun used as an adjective.
    For example, in the compound noun "chicken soup", the attributive noun "chicken" modifies the noun "soup".
  2. (grammar, when referring to a language other than English) A noun denoting bearer of a quality or an attribute of a subject, in reference to the lexical morpheme from which it is derived.