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I am looking specifically for a list of proper concrete nouns that represent entities or categorizations of entities that can be used in place of the proper noun, however this is not what I am asking for...

What I am asking for is if there is a specific definition to this type of concrete noun. If I had such a definition then it would greatly aid my search for such a list or help me to build it.

Examples of the type of noun I am looking for if my description doesn't make sense:

  • Bear
  • Dolphin
  • Bigfoot
  • Alien
  • Hippie
  • Shakespeare (the person)
  • Tree

So you can see that by "entity" I mean a word that directly identifies or categorically identifies a living being of any kind, fictional or otherwise.

Is there such a term for this very specific type of concrete noun?

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    Generally, the term entity is not restricted to living beings. What you probably want is animate noun. It's all laid out very nicely in Frawley's Linguistic Semantics, specifically in Chapter 3: "Entities"
    – John Lawler
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 3:10
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    @JohnLawler - if you change this comment to an answer, I shall upvote it.
    – user16269
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 8:12
  • @JohnLawler Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for. Please convert this comment to an answer so that I may accept it.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 10:53

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(by request)

Generally, the term entity is not restricted to living beings.

What you probably want is animate noun.

It's all laid out very nicely in Frawley's Linguistic Semantics, specifically in Chapter 3: "Entities".

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