hyponymy.

A relationship in which one term names a more specific kind within another term's broader category.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• hyponymy relation
• lexical hyponymy
• hyponymy between terms

On the page

The hyponymy between violin and instrument places the first within a broader category.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Oxford Reference semantics explicitly defines meaning inclusion/class membership; preserve kind-of rather than part-of relationship. No successful MW entry is claimed. Writing functions: semantic analysis, language and rhetoric, conceptual distinction.