Hyponymies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A relationship where one term is a specific instance within the category described by another term
2. The connection where a word represents a more specific concept under a broader category of meaning
3. A type of lexical relationship in which a specific term falls under the umbrella of a more general term

Etymology: Hyponymies is simply the plural of hyponymy, so the story is really the story of hyponymy. The word is a modern scientific coinage built from Greek parts: "hypo-", meaning "under" or "below", and "-nymy", from "onoma", meaning "name". Linguists use it for the relationship in which a more specific term falls under a more general one, as "rose" falls under "flower". The word was assembled in English rather than inherited from ancient Greek, because the Greeks had no such technical concept. Its formation draws on the existing word "hyponym", itself built from the same Greek elements, with the suffix "-y" added to make the abstract noun. The first element "hypo-" is the same prefix found in words like "hypothermia" and "hypodermic", where it also means "under".

Synonyms: subclass relationships, hyponymy