The term subcategories
refers to lower level categories.
Which term should I use to refer to higher level categories?
Does supercategories
sound right?
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Sign up to join this communityThe term subcategories
refers to lower level categories.
Which term should I use to refer to higher level categories?
Does supercategories
sound right?
Supercategories
is technically correct.
There are also subscript
and superscript
to back this example.
For folders the term parent folder is usually used. And since categories are quite similar to folders, you may want to use parent category for higher-level categories. Or you can use upper-level categories.
Movies often have subtitles, translated texts below the picture. When opera productions project translated texts above the stage, they are called surtitles.
Well, there is no defined prefix or word to be an opposite of "sub".
However, the higher level for "subcategories" is simply categories and the lower level is sub-subcategories and to go a third level down is sub-sub-subcategories and so on.
The prefix that springs to mind for me is meta- which I believe I picked up from reading Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. He even uses it as a standalone word.
And coincidentally enough in the RELATED box for this question is the opposite question!
I don't think there's an antonym for "sub" since we use "sub" to talk about something which is a level down from something else. For example, "sub-category" is a category within a category. If you have to go further, you may use "sub-sub category." But in the end, the only category above all of these is simply a "category."
If you were to refer to the first category from which the "sub-category" and "sub-sub category" are taking birth, you may do so with "main category."
Hope I answered your question.
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