Skip to main content

Questions tagged [hypernyms]

A hyperonym is a word whose definition includes the definition of another word (its hyponym).

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
14 votes
6 answers
4k views

Is there a hypernym for “public” and “private”?

Regarding privacy (in general) or visibility (particularly in computer programming), “public” and “private” are direct dichotomous opposites. It seems hard to find a superordinate term for it; “...
dakab's user avatar
  • 617
15 votes
5 answers
3k views

What is the trade of an electrician called?

For example, a carpenter works in carpentry and a plumber works in plumbing. So what trade does an electrician work in? Electrical? I searched the definition for "electrical" and found that ...
Stevevaiamd's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
352 views

What is a hypernym for artificial regions, like cities, states or unions?

I am building a database of sorts and came across this question. I am looking for a word that includes every region that is declared and made up by humans. So no natural regions like forests or ...
Ewyn the Born's user avatar
53 votes
13 answers
38k views

What's the single-word for "left or right handed"?

'Male'/'female' is to 'gender' as 'left-handed'/'right-handed 'is to...? Is there a word to describe this? For example, if I ask a guy What's your ____? It should mean I'm asking whether he's ...
Tushar Raj's user avatar
  • 21.1k
0 votes
2 answers
99 views

What is a generic word that describes something a person is or does like a skill? [duplicate]

I am in charge of deciding the name of a skill in a role-playing game that serves as a catch-all for abilities/skills that are otherwise unlisted in our handbook (think skills that will help players ...
Robert S's user avatar
  • 211
1 vote
1 answer
264 views

What is an object (talisman, amulet, salt circle etc.) that hinders or stops an evil spirit called?

What is an object that hinders or stops a spirit (specifically evil) called? I.e. a talisman, salt circle, or any other enchanted object.
Help please's user avatar
22 votes
13 answers
14k views

Is there a term for "likes" and "dislikes" on a social network?

What is the term to use for "likes" and "dislikes" on social networks? Are they marks or grades or rates or anything else? My purpose is that I'm programming a system where I have ...
pkuderov's user avatar
  • 345
38 votes
7 answers
6k views

Generic word for uni-, bi-, tricycle, etc.?

Is there a generic word for bicycle-like vehicles that may have 1,2,3,4 or more wheels? I want motorcycles excluded; only pedal-driven vehicles should be included.
Anixx's user avatar
  • 2,858
54 votes
11 answers
15k views

What word defines a category suited for both header and footer?

So there I was, trying to ask a question (now on SO) on Webmaster.SE partly involving a 'header' and a 'footer'. One part of my code defines shared aspects of both the header and the footer. Anyway to ...
That Realtor Programmer Guy's user avatar
28 votes
12 answers
11k views

What do you call a unit of beer within a pack?

This is for academic writing purposes. I am trying to come up with a word that could indistinguishably describe a bottle or a can within a pack of beer. I cannot say "a unit" because "a unit" in my ...
Olga's user avatar
  • 443
43 votes
7 answers
9k views

Is "seafood" inclusive of "seaweed"?

I told Korean friends not to label a (non-commercial) package of seaweed as "seafood", but it is from the sea and it is food, so now I'm not sure. How common is it to refer to "seaweed" as "seafood"...
DavePhD's user avatar
  • 10.7k
19 votes
10 answers
12k views

A hypernym for 'insects', 'worms' and the like

From Oxford: insect: any small creature with six legs and a body divided into three parts. Insects usually also have wings. Ants, bees and flies are all insects Insect is often used to refer to other ...
Tushar Raj's user avatar
  • 21.1k
29 votes
10 answers
11k views

Generic term for 'row' and 'column'

Is there a single, more generic term that can be used to describe both a row and a column? In English, we can refer to a line as being horizontal or vertical, but unless we say ‘a line of something’, ...
Duncan Matheson's user avatar
20 votes
6 answers
3k views

Hypernym for "clock" and "watch"

Yesterday I said: "I can't read analog clocks", but my interlocutor corrected me saying that what I was pointing at was a watch and not a clock. Now, I am aware of the difference between the two, ...
Giovanni De Gaetano's user avatar
39 votes
15 answers
204k views

Collective word for food and drink

Is there a word that best describes food and drink taken at the same time? I've thought of refreshments and consumables but neither seem right to me.
user avatar
35 votes
15 answers
25k views

Generic name for places like village, town and cities

There is the German word Ort or Ortschaft which is a hypernym for places where people live like villages towns cities etc. Is there a correspondent word in English? I don't want to use location ...
splattne's user avatar
  • 785
50 votes
10 answers
9k views

Is there a term which covers ATM cards, credit cards, and debit cards?

I work in accommodation for international travelers, and people can pay with various kinds of cards: In some countries such as USA, credit cards are very common, but debit cards are not so common. In ...
hippietrail's user avatar
  • 7,820
17 votes
8 answers
5k views

A term encompassing both 'salary' and 'wage(s)'

Your employee income tax is calculated as a fraction of your overall ________, be it through wages or salary, but not your gains from invested savings." what do I put down in the ______ ? Is it "...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 3,494
95 votes
2 answers
103k views

Is there a single term for "nieces and nephews"?

I find it handy when talking about my sons and daughters I can just say my children. It's nice to say nieces instead of sibling's daughters. I wonder if there is a similar term for nieces and nephews ...
Paul Hildebrandt's user avatar
13 votes
9 answers
3k views

Hypernym for reading a book and listening to an audiobook

I want to state that "I've read 10 books this year", but the books in question can be both dead-wood books and audiobooks. Is there a verb that works here in place of 'read'? Maybe something like '...
Gavin's user avatar
  • 247
37 votes
7 answers
29k views

Hypernym for "approve" and "reject"

User A goes to the web page and clicks a menu called 'Submit Request', where User A will fill out a form request and submit it to his/her Supervisor. Then User A's Supervisor will go to the web page ...
Larry Morries's user avatar
25 votes
9 answers
9k views

What overarching category do "street," "road," "avenue", etc. belong to?

Apple belongs to the category of Fruit. What category do street, road, and avenue belong to?
Cheng's user avatar
  • 1,567
6 votes
2 answers
10k views

Is there a single word for “login/logout”? [closed]

Is there a single word that means both logging in and logging out? I have a single file which I currently have named as Login. But it does more than logging in, it also logs out. I'm looking for a ...
O S's user avatar
  • 173
19 votes
3 answers
10k views

What is the correct term to describe 'primary', 'secondary', etc

What is the correct term to describe the words in the following sequence: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, denary, duodenary, etc. I am thinking ...
nderjung's user avatar
  • 343
41 votes
7 answers
15k views

"Left" and "right" are to "side" as "front" and "rear" are to what?

Is there an equivalent word to "side" when speaking of the front or rear of something (e.g. a car)? So, a mechanic might say: You damaged your wing-mirror? Ok, which side? ... or... You ...
Urbycoz's user avatar
  • 15.8k
14 votes
10 answers
3k views

Hypernym for "heard", "seen", and "visited"

I'm building a website and I am looking for a generic word describing the visited state of a piece of content. It can be audio or video content among other things. Is checked a correct way of ...
Elie Génard's user avatar
13 votes
9 answers
5k views

Are all myths superstitions, or are all superstitions myths?

Are all myths superstitions, or is it the other way around, i.e. all superstition being myths? Or can these words basically be used interchangeably? The dictionary definitions of these words seem ...
EnglishWacko's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
137 views

Is there a general word for inhaling and exhaling ? Something like ''haling'' or ''halation''?

I'm looking for a word that includes both inhaling and exhaling that derives from the same ''halare'' origin. The word ''breathing'' obviously does the job but I'm wondering if other words exist such ...
Kantura's user avatar
  • 621
58 votes
1 answer
236k views

What is the proper name for "AM" and "PM"?

I know that AM/PM is for ante/post meridiem, but what is it actually called? Meridian indicator? 12 hour indicator? Something way more clever?
Jason's user avatar
  • 988
1 vote
1 answer
106 views

Hypernym of convergence and divergence

Is there a hypernym for convergence and divergence? It might also encompass similar terms, like separation and reunion. Oscillations can be thought of as a succession of convergence and divergence, ...
syre's user avatar
  • 131
8 votes
4 answers
12k views

Word/phrase to unambiguously refer to "aunt, uncle, and cousins"?

Consider this phrase Today I toured around the city with an aunt, uncle and cousins who came to visit me. Is there a shorter word/expression that unambiguously refers to my aunt, uncle and ...
luchonacho's user avatar
  • 2,235
5 votes
7 answers
3k views

Is there a term for the amount of time one devotes to a job, as in full-time, part-time, half-time?

This question came up when I was posting job openings on a website and needed to list the various aspects of each position using label/value pairs, like so: Benefits: Included Availability: ...
Huw Williams's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
358 views

General term for singularize and pluralize

I'm looking for a word (or small number of words) that is the general term for singularizing or pluralizing a word. I've thought about "inflection"/"inflect", but inflection ...
Henry Woody's user avatar
7 votes
6 answers
6k views

What's the general term for pests and everything that can harm your crops?

When you grow some cultures in your farm you need to use some products against some "unfriendly" things that might harm your crops. Fungicides are used to kill fungi or fungal spores. Insecticides ...
Ivanka Todorova's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
61 views

A word or phrase to encompass both a long, flexible neck, and a long, flexible tail (but not normal arms and legs)

Consider a creature like a long-necked dinosaur: The neck and tail share many functional (and presumably anatomical) similarities. Specifically, as far as I'm concerned, they are both flexible ...
Keith Stein's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
735 views

Hypernym for anything you would write on?

I know the term "writing utensil", "writing implement", or "writing instrument" can be used to encompass anything you would write with such as pen, pencil, stylus, etc. ...
Nosajimiki's user avatar
22 votes
5 answers
4k views

Hypernym for "bark", "meow", "roar"

Is there a hypernym for animal noises like "bark", "meow", "roar", et cetera?
senseiwu's user avatar
  • 687
8 votes
7 answers
1k views

Hypernym for "clients", "members" and "partners"

We're building a feature for a website and trying to think of a hypernym for clients, partners and members so that the feature remains generic enough for re-use later on other websites.
Xhantar's user avatar
  • 183
26 votes
5 answers
12k views

A word that describes both "encoding" and "decoding"?

I am looking for a word that describes both of these activities, however the word coding does not seem to be suitable. Likewise with encryption and decryption, cryption does not work well.
user avatar
26 votes
8 answers
3k views

Word that means "outdated name"

Is there a word that means "outdated name"? For example: Record, although very little music is on vinyl Film, although most movies are digital Horsepower, although no one uses horses as a metric ...
Patrick Perini's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
10k views

Collective name for prefix and suffix of a word [closed]

Is there a term that can be used to refer to both the prefix and suffix of a word? For example, unenjoyable. I'm looking for a collective word that described BOTH un and able.
turtle's user avatar
  • 221
9 votes
3 answers
6k views

increment/decrement: is there a neutral noun like "crement"?

If a value (e.g. in mathematics or information science) can either decrease or increase let's say by one, does there exist a neutral expression based on increment and decrement which covers both cases?...
LongHike's user avatar
  • 201
4 votes
5 answers
8k views

What is the generic term for “sender” and “receiver”?

Fruits is the generic term for apples and pears. What is the generic term for sender and receiver in an abstract context? In my special case I have users and servers who both can send and receive ...
jordan_conelli's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
18k views

Generic term for sunrise and sunset

Is there a single generic term to refer, either collectively or arbitrarily, to both sunrises and sunsets? I'm looking for something that could be used in the same vein as twilight can be used (...
Tim Parenti's user avatar
13 votes
8 answers
18k views

Is there a word that means both opening and closing a door?

As in, Please do not __ this door after midnight. Operate? Move?
Tom Viner's user avatar
  • 241
5 votes
6 answers
3k views

Is there a word that means both "listen" and "read"?

I am looking for a word that encapsulates both listen and read. I enjoy _______ poetry, rap, etc. Since poetry and rap can both be read and listened to, I wasn't sure what word to use.
Clangorous Chimera's user avatar
23 votes
4 answers
23k views

What are: province, territory, protectorate, state...?

Often a country will have regions called "provinces" or "states". Other times they are called "territories" and "protectorates". Is there a generic term for these words? Is there a full list of ...
Incognito's user avatar
  • 1,030
1 vote
1 answer
668 views

Umbrella term for Invoice, Debit Note, or Credit Note

I would like to find a generic term for a transaction of type Invoice, Debit Note, or Credit Note. The term transaction is already reserved since the context involves other sorts of transactions ...
mhadidg's user avatar
  • 133
2 votes
2 answers
838 views

Hypernym for words that refer to a specific point in time like now, today, tomorrow, and yesterday

Second, minute, hour, ... all fall under 'duration' But when you want to refer to a specific point in time, like 'now' or 'yesterday' (many languages go way further and have single words for 'next/...
Adam's user avatar
  • 1,066
8 votes
9 answers
3k views

Is there a single word for a "unit of time"?

If I were to have a text box for someone to enter an integer and dropdown list from which my user would select day(s), hour(s), minute(s) or second(s), is there a single word that would describe what ...
snumpy's user avatar
  • 7,410

1
2 3 4 5
7