Definition:
A linguistic term for a word that contains the meaning of another word; a specific term used to designate a member of a class; the opposite of hypernym. See also: semantic field.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "below" + "name"Examples and Observations:
- "In general, there are a number of hyponyms for each subordinate. For example, boar and piglet are also hyponyms of the subordinate pig, since the meaning of each of the three words sow, boar, and piglet 'contains' the meaning of the word pig. (Note that in defining a word like sow, boar, or piglet, the subordinate word pig is often used as part of the definition: 'A sow is an adult female pig.') Thus, it is not surprising that hyponymy is sometimes referred to as inclusion. The subordinate is the included word and the hyponym is the including one."
(Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994) - "Hyponymy is a less familiar term to most people than either synonymy or antonymy, but it refers to a much more important sense relation. It describes what happens when we say 'An X is a kind of Y'--A daffodil is a kind of flower, or simply, A daffodil is a flower."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003) - "House is a hyponym of the subordinate building, but building is in turn, a hyponym of the subordinate structure, and, in its turn, structure is a hyponym of the subordinate thing. A subordinate at a given level can itself be a hyponym at a higher level."
(Patrick Griffiths, An Introduction to English Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh University Press, 2006)
Pronunciation: HI-po-nim
