Meronym

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmɛɹənɪm/

Definitions

1. A word that indicates a portion of a complete entity defines a linguistic category for terms that represent parts of larger wholes, emphasizing their role in expressing constituent relationships
2. A linguistic term that refers to a word representing a part of a larger whole describes a function where a term identifies a constituent segment within a complete entity
3. A lexical item used to describe a component or segment that belongs to a larger whole

Etymology: Lexicographers coined "meronym" in the twentieth century by building it from two Ancient Greek pieces: "méros", meaning "part", and "ónuma", meaning "name". The Greek roots are ancient, but the word itself is modern, and its meaning is the relation between words rather than between things. A meronym is the name of a part, so "wheel" is a meronym of "car", and "finger" is a meronym of "hand". The pairing has a neat logic. The "-onym" ending is the same one found in "synonym" and "antonym", where a word is matched with another word by meaning. "Mero-" marks the particular relation of part to whole, so "meronym" names the partner word in that relation. Its counterpart, the word for the whole, is called a "holonym", built from the Greek "hólos", "whole", on the same pattern.

Synonyms: part, component, element, piece, segment

Antonyms: holonym, whole, entirety, totality, aggregate