6. The definition given for common nouns applies more strictly to
class nouns. It may, however, be correctly used for another group of
nouns detailed below; for they are common nouns in the sense that the
names apply to _every particle of similar substance_, instead of to
each individual or separate object.
They are called MATERIAL NOUNS. Such are _glass_, _iron_, _clay_,
_frost_, _rain_, _snow_, _wheat_, _wine_, _tea_, _sugar_, etc.
They may be placed in groups as follows:--
(1) The metals: _iron_, _gold_, _platinum_, etc.
(2) Products spoken of in bulk: _tea_, _sugar_, _rice_, _wheat_, etc.
(3) Geological bodies: _mud_, _sand_, _granite_, _rock_, _stone_, etc.
(4) Natural phenomena: _rain_, _dew_, _cloud_, _frost_, _mist_, etc.
(5) Various manufactures: _cloth_ (and the different kinds of cloth),
_potash_, _soap_, _rubber_, _paint_, _celluloid_, etc.
7. NOTE.--There are some nouns, such as _sun_, _moon_, _earth_,
which seem to be the names of particular individual objects, but which
are not called proper names.
- - - - - - - - - -
Words naturally of limited application not proper
The reason is, that in proper names the intention is _to exclude_ all
other individuals of the same class, and fasten a special name to the
object considered, as in calling a city _Cincinnati_; but in the words
_sun_, _earth_, etc., there is no such intention. If several bodies
like the center of our solar system are known, they also are called
_suns_ by a natural extension of the term: so with the words _earth_,
_world_, etc. They remain common class names.
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