predicate noun

English

Noun

predicate noun (plural predicate nouns)

1. (grammar) A noun used in the predicate of a sentence with a copulative verb or a factitive verb and that refers to the subject of the copulative verb or the direct object of the factitive verb. For example "He is a fireman" or "They made him chief".
   • 1996, Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, →ISBN:

     Harner pointed out that "Colwell was almost entirely concerned with the question whether anarthrous predicate nouns were definite or indefinite, and he did not discuss at any length the problem of their qualitative significance."