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What part of speech is the word "entire" in "over the little garden field entire"?

English Language & Usage Asked on June 11, 2021

The sentence is:
“After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field entire.”

A quote from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

I want to know if the word “entire” is a flat adverb, a postpositive adjective, a noun alternative for entirety, or some other part of speech in the bolded sentence above.

Thank you for reading. I hope you will respond and share your thoughts with me.

One Answer

Merriam-Webster includes this sense in its definition of entire:

(noun) archaic : the whole : ENTIRETY

Here, entire is a noun which has the alternative meaning of "entirety." It sounds like this matches its use in your example sentence.

As a paraphrase:

After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field in its entirety.

Answered by Jason Bassford on June 11, 2021

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