superordinate word
- noun
- /ˌsuːpərˈɔːrdɪnət wɜrd/
- Specialized
:
palabra superordinada
- 'Furniture' is a superordinate word that includes chairs, tables, and sofas.
Examples
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In the animal kingdom, the superordinate word for 'sparrow' is 'bird'.
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The teacher asked her students to identify a superordinate word for 'van' and 'car'.
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Can you give an example of a superordinate word?
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A superordinate word is broader than its subordinate terms.
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'Vehicle' is a superordinate word that encompasses cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
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In linguistics, 'mammal' serves as a superordinate word for 'dog' and 'cat'.
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The term 'fruit' acts as a superordinate word that includes apples, oranges, and bananas.
Synonyms
A general word for a group of things, like 'flower' for 'rose'
A broad word that includes more specific words like dog
Antonyms
How General
- Specialized
1
5.5
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'superordinate' (more general or higher in a hierarchy) modifies 'word' to indicate a word that is more general than another. This hypernym/hyponym relation is a common, cross-linguistic conceptual pattern and follows standard English modifier + noun formation, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Superordinate word comes from super meaning 'above' and ordinate meaning 'order', so it suggests a higher branch that holds smaller words. So, a superordinate word is a 'more general' word that includes 'specific' words like 'furniture' for 'chairs'.