Is Design a Noun or a Verb?

            In deciding whether design is a noun or a verb one must first define design as a noun and as a verb. According to the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary design as a noun means “the arrangement of elements or details in a product or work of art.” As a verb design means “to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan”

            Now that I reread these definitions I realized that one must also need to be familiar with the etymology of design to fully understand whether it is a now or a verb. Kostas Terzidis, in “The Etymology of Design: Pre-Socratic Perspective”, attempts to define design but doesn’t just look at the definitions we use today but also take a look at the origins of design. Kostas Terzidis says that design is often confused with planning but the difference being is that planning “is the act of devising a scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective…(while) design is a conceptual activity involving formulating an idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried out into an action.” In this part of the essay we now realize that design ca be used as both a noun and a verb. When we use design as the process of designing it is a verb that leads to the finished product which can be referred to as a design (noun). So it all depends on how it is used in the English language, but remember it can be used as both.