nonprofits

[Beverly Flanigan]

I can understand the distinctions; it was the use of the adjectival form
(as below) as a stand-alone noun that was new to me--I've only noticed it
in the past few months.

At 09:23 AM 1/25/00 -0800, you wrote:
>State law authorizes "profit" corporations and "nonprofit" corporations.
There
>are also "professional corporations", "medical care corporations", "dental
care
>corporations", "government corporations", and "limited liability"
>corporations...just off the top of my head.
>
>Bob
>
>Fred Shapiro wrote:
>
>> 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
>