hypernym
nounUK /ˈhaɪpənɪm/ · CA, US /ˈhaɪpɚnɪm/
Etymology From hyper- (“over”) + -nym (“name”). From Ancient Greek roots; compare Latinate “superordinate term”.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences, Semantics A superordinate word or phrase; a term whose referents form a set which includes as a subset the referents of a subordinate term—as, for example, insect (being a hypernym) for ant.
- “Musical instrument” is a hypernym of “guitar” because a guitar is a musical instrument: a guitar belongs to a class or type of musical instruments.
- Hypernyms of “dog” and “cat” include “mammal”, “homeotherm”, “carnivore”, and “quadruped”.
- Derived terms
- hypernymic, hypernymous, hypernymy
- Related terms
- generalization, has-a, holonym, is-a, superset, Wiktionary:Semantic relations