proper noun
noun
plural proper nouns
: a noun (such as Seattle, Joyce, or Empire State Building) that designates a particular being or thing, does not take a limiting modifier, and is usually capitalized in English
called also proper name
I think I can safely say that no rational person is hubristic enough to type "Zbigniew Brzezinski" … without first checking the spelling of the name, but the number of less formidable-looking proper nouns that wind up misspelled in manuscripts … is vast.—
Benjamin Dreyer
Benjamin Dreyer
Examples of proper noun in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But capitalization is sparsely employed in the Spanish language, which uses the lowercase for many proper nouns and titles.
—Terence McGinley, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
Invoking Turkey’s Anadol A1, made from 1966-1975, may be useful as a tie-breaker in board games where the use of proper nouns is permitted.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 24 Sep. 2023
Change a few proper nouns and Henson describes my son Mike.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023
Macros are small computer programs that perform mundane editing tasks in Microsoft Word, such as correcting capitalization, inserting comments and identifying inconsistencies among proper nouns.
—Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2023
It gets tripped up by unusual or foreign words, acronyms and proper nouns.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2023
In my tests, StoryToolkitAI does a pretty solid job at figuring out speaker timing, transcribing, recognizing proper nouns, and placing those subtitles at the correct moment, although there are almost always some errors.
—Chris Person, The Verge, 14 Mar. 2023
That can’t be pinned to a proper noun.
—Washington Post, 1 June 2021
Every single proper noun in the crypto universe would be at home in the MaddAddam world.
—Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2023
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Terence McGinley, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
Invoking Turkey’s Anadol A1, made from 1966-1975, may be useful as a tie-breaker in board games where the use of proper nouns is permitted.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 24 Sep. 2023
Change a few proper nouns and Henson describes my son Mike.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023
Macros are small computer programs that perform mundane editing tasks in Microsoft Word, such as correcting capitalization, inserting comments and identifying inconsistencies among proper nouns.
—Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2023
It gets tripped up by unusual or foreign words, acronyms and proper nouns.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2023
In my tests, StoryToolkitAI does a pretty solid job at figuring out speaker timing, transcribing, recognizing proper nouns, and placing those subtitles at the correct moment, although there are almost always some errors.
—Chris Person, The Verge, 14 Mar. 2023
That can’t be pinned to a proper noun.
—Washington Post, 1 June 2021
Every single proper noun in the crypto universe would be at home in the MaddAddam world.
—Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'proper noun.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of proper noun was
in the 15th century
Articles Related to proper noun
Dictionary Entries Near proper noun
Cite this Entry
“Proper noun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proper%20noun. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
proper noun
noun
: a noun that names a particular person, place, or thing
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