Final answer:
A noun is the part of speech that denotes a person, place, thing, or idea, including both proper and abstract nouns. It is one of the basic parts of speech, along with adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, which all function together to form meaningful sentences.
Step-by-step explanation:
The part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or idea is a noun. We define a noun as a word that can represent something concrete like a person or place, or something abstract like an idea. There are also specific categories such as proper nouns and abstract nouns. Proper nouns are capitalized since they denote specific entities, like the name 'George Washington' or the place 'Eiffel Tower'. Abstract nouns, on the other hand, represent ideas or concepts that are not tangible, like 'freedom' or 'happiness'.
To correctly identify the part of speech in a sentence, it's important to analyze how words function together. For example, in addition to nouns, other basic parts of speech include adjectives, which describe nouns; verbs, which show actions or states of being; and adverbs, which modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and often provide information about how, when, where, or to what extent something is done.