hypernym, hypernymy 1. The semantic relation of belonging to a higher rank or class; for example, superordination. 2. A superordinate word or a word that is more generic than a given word. A superordinate word is said to be an umbrella term: a word whose meaning encompasses the meaning of another more specific word; for example, 'animal' is a supe... Found on http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1018/8