Examples and Observations:
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'
Examples and Observations:
•"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."
Examples and Observations:
A hypernym is a word with a general meaning that has basically the same meaning of a more specific word. For example, dog is a hypernym, while collie and chihuahua are more specific subordinate terms.
Examples and Observations:
The hypernym tends to be a basic-level category that is used by speakers with high frequency; speakers usually refer to collies and chihuahuas as dogs, rather than using the subordinate terms, which are consequently of relatively low frequency.
Hyponym and Hypernym
from specific to general
Hypernym
Definition:
A linguistic term for a word whose meaning includes the meanings of other words; the opposite of hyponym.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "extra" + "name"
Also Known As: superordinate term
Comparision
.
oak is a kind of tree
Hyponym
Definition:
In linguistics, a specific term used to designate a member of a class. The opposite of a hyponym is a hypernym.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "below" + "name"
Also Known As: subtype, subordinate term, inclusion