nonprofits

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 24 Jan 2000, Beverly Flanigan wrote:

> Another term I've just noticed recently is "nonprofit" used as a
> noun:  So-and-so is a nonprofit [organization].  "Even" the NY Times used
> it yesterday.  How old is this usage?

This seems to be the month for noticing usages that have been well
established for decades.  The earliest I find is the following:

1963 _Amer. Econ. Rev._ 53: 440  The figure for the universities and other
nonprofits rises to about 35 per cent.

Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2