hypernym

American  

[hahy-per-nim] / ˈhaɪ pər nɪm /

noun

Linguistics.

1. superordinate.

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hypernym British  

/ ˈhaɪpəˌnɪm /

noun

1. another name for superordinate

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Etymology

Origin of hypernym

First recorded in 1970–75; hyper- + -(o)nym

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Explanation

A hypernym is a word that names a broad category that includes other words. "Primate" is a hypernym for "chimpanzee" and "human." Whenever you see a word ending in nym, you know it’s going to be some kind of name. In this case, a hypernym is the name of a broader category of things. Dog, for example, is a hypernym for dachshund, Chihuahua, and poodle. Superhero is a hypernym for Batman and Spider-Man. A word can’t be a hypernym if there are no other words that can be classified under it. Hypernyms are also called generic terms or superordinates.

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