Let me start by mentioning the fact that most English speakers' idea of what noun means comes from grade school That's a good question, and worth answering. So the question seems to have become, more generally, "What's a noun?" Of course, different dictionaries might have different opinions on this. … none but the brave deserves the fair. That appears to be the case in the example that k1eran cited in a comment (from Merriam-Webster):ġ : one with mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : one who is brave (see brave entry 1) However, some adnouns can become "nominalized", i.e., become actual nouns. (Some people call gerunds "nouns", too, but I won't go off on that tangent. Sometimes people call these words nouns, but in my experience, those people are usually using the word "noun" somewhat loosely, as a shorthand for "nominal". Being nominals, they may function as subjects, objects, complements, etc.
The part of speech ascribed to these words is usually "adjective", and they are used in sentences as "nominals". In your example, "free" and "brave" are often called " collective adjectives" or " adnouns".
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