word usage - Is this noun used as an adjective?


I read this recently in The Economist:



At the end of the summit, the French and European officials had claimed a points victory over the Germans by getting them to agree more firmly to a target date of January 1st next year to entrust the European Central Bank (ECB) with the ultimate authority to supervise the euro zone’s 6,000-odd banks.



"Points" is a plural, and I suppose it doesn't function as a noun in this sentence since it's following the article "a", so is it an adjective adorning "victory"?



Answer



When a noun is used this way it is called an attributive noun or noun adjunct.


One big difference between attributive nouns and adjectives is that while an adjective is predicative, i.e., a big dog is big and is a dog, a points victory is not points, but rather it is a victory when using points as the determining factor.


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