Holonyms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term that denotes a word which represents a whole to which other words refer as parts
2. Describing linguistic units that identify a complete entity encompassing related subordinate elements
3. Referring to words that signify entire structures encompassing the components they describe

Etymology: "Holonyms" is the plural of "holonym," a term built from two Greek-derived pieces: "hol-," from Greek "holos," meaning "whole," and "-onym," from Greek "onoma," meaning "name." A holonym is therefore a "whole-name," the opposite pairing of a meronym, which names a part. "Tree" is a holonym of "trunk" and "branch," and "car" is a holonym of "wheel" and "engine." The pattern in the word is a deliberate one. English has long borrowed Greek elements to name relationships between words, and "-onym" appears in many such coinages, like "synonym" and "antonym," where "-onym" means a name or word. Adding "hol-" to that stem produced a term for the larger word that stands over others, rather than for a word that means the same thing or its opposite.