Meanings
plural hypernyms
- human sciencesA superordinate word or phrase; a term whose referents form a set which includes as a subset the referents of a subordinate term—as, for example, insect (being a hypernym) for ant.
Hypernyms of “dog” and “cat” include “mammal”, “homeotherm”, “carnivore”, and “quadruped”.
1 more example
“Musical instrument” is a hypernym of “guitar” because a guitar is a musical instrument: a guitar belongs to a class or type of musical instruments.
Synonyms: hyperonym, blanket term, genus, superordinate, umbrella term · Antonyms: hyponym, species, subordinate
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA superordinate word or phrase; a term whose referents form a set which includes as a subset the referents of a subordinate term—as, for example, insect (being a hypernym) for ant.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From hyper- (“over”) + -nym (“name”). From Ancient Greek roots; compare Latinate “superordinate term”.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian хипероним
- хипероним (hiperonim)superordinate grouping word
Catalan hiperònim
- hiperònimsuperordinate grouping word
Chinese Mandarin 上位詞 /上位词
- 上位詞 /上位词 (shàngwèicí)superordinate grouping word
Czech hyperonymum
- hyperonymumsuperordinate grouping word
Danish hypernym, overbegreb
- hypernymsuperordinate grouping word
- overbegrebsuperordinate grouping word
- fællesbetegnelsesuperordinate grouping word
Dutch hyperoniem, koepelwoord
- hyperoniemsuperordinate grouping word
- koepelwoordsuperordinate grouping word
Finnish yläkäsite, hyperonyymi
- yläkäsitesuperordinate grouping word
- hyperonyymisuperordinate grouping word
French hyperonyme
- hyperonymesuperordinate grouping word
German Oberbegriff, Hyperonym
- Oberbegriffsuperordinate grouping word
- Hyperonymsuperordinate grouping word
Greek υπερώνυμο
- υπερώνυμο (yperónymo)superordinate grouping word
Hungarian hiperonima, fölérendelt fogalom/szó/név/kifejezés
- hiperonimasuperordinate grouping word
- fölérendelt fogalom/szó/név/kifejezéssuperordinate grouping word
Icelandic yfirheiti
- yfirheitisuperordinate grouping word
Indonesian hipernim
- hipernimsuperordinate grouping word
Irish scáth-théarma
- scáth-théarmasuperordinate grouping word
Italian iperonimo
- iperonimosuperordinate grouping word
Japanese 上位語
- 上位語 (jōigo)superordinate grouping word
Korean 상위어
- 상위어 (sang'wieo)superordinate grouping word
Norwegian Bokmål hyperonym, overbegrep
- hyperonymsuperordinate grouping word
- overbegrepsuperordinate grouping word
Polish hiperonim
- hiperonimsuperordinate grouping word
Portuguese hiperónimo, hiperônimo
- hiperónimosuperordinate grouping word
- hiperônimosuperordinate grouping word
Russian гиперо́ним
- гиперо́ним (giperónim)superordinate grouping word
Slovak hyperonymum
- hyperonymumsuperordinate grouping word
Spanish hiperónimo
- hiperónimosuperordinate grouping word
Swahili hipanimu
- hipanimusuperordinate grouping word
Swedish hyperonym, överbegrepp
- hyperonymsuperordinate grouping word
- överbegreppsuperordinate grouping word
Turkish şemsiye terim
- şemsiye terimsuperordinate grouping word
Vietnamese từ thượng vị
- từ thượng vịsuperordinate grouping word
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hypernym
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
hypernym. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypernym
“hypernym.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypernym. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hypernym,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypernym.
Source: hypernym on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.