hyponym
- noun
- /ˈhaɪpəˌnɪm/
- Specialized
:
hipónimo
- A hyponym is a word that is more specific than another word.
Examples
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In linguistics, a hyponym refers to a word like 'rose' under the broader category 'flower'.
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In the category of vehicles, 'car' is a hyponym of 'vehicle'.
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'Scarlet' is a hyponym of 'red', meaning it is a specific type of red.
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Knowing the hyponym helps you understand the precise meaning in a sentence.
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'Rose' is a hyponym of 'flower', which means it is a specific type of flower.
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In the context of animals, 'dog' is a hyponym of 'mammal', representing a specific kind of mammal.
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Understanding that 'banana' is a hyponym of 'fruit' can help you categorize different types of food.
Synonyms
1
7.2
A specific word that belongs under a more general word
A word that names a more specific kind than a general word, like 'poodle' for 'dog'
How Specific
Surface Forms
Morphology
hyponym = hypo + onym
This is a technical term built from Greek combining forms, but the meaning 'a more specific term' is not recoverable for an average learner from the parts alone.
Etymology
Hyponym comes from the Greek parts hypo- meaning 'under' and -onym meaning 'name', the same -onym you have in synonym. So a hyponym is like a 'name under' a more general name — a specific type of that category, for example 'scarlet' is under 'red'.