I think you might be referring to the linguistic term "Nominalisation" the following definitions may help with this.
Online source definitions.
- In linguistics, nominalization is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominalisation
- Nomalisation is the process whereby a noun or noun phrase is formed from a word of another grammatical class. It is often used in contexts such as newspaper headlines and more academic writing to distance or disguise the actions of agents. ...
www.nrs.dest.gov.au/glossary.htm
- A verb which has been turned into an abstract noun. Ie the name of something which cannot be put in a wheel barrow, or described as an 'Ongoing X'. Eg decision, revision, opposition.
www.inspiritive.com.au/glossary.htm
- A noun describing a state of being which exists in name only. Not a tangible item. Can be a verb or another process word that has been formed into an abstract noun.
www.scrassociates.com/glossary.html