adjectives - Is "missing person" considered a compound noun?


In the phrase missing person, is the whole phrase a compound noun or would missing be considered an adjective that modifies person? It seems like in many situations when it is used with other adjectives, missing is not treated as an adjective. In addition, I have seen the phrase pluralized as missing persons rather than missing people, which makes it seem like the phrase is viewed as one whole word.



Answer



Since one can be on an official list of "missing persons", and it means something slightly different than a list of "missing people" or a list of "people missing", (either of which would probably mean that they were not in an expected place) I'd have to say that "missing person" is a compound noun - as it has a distinct meaning when phrased that way.


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