Holonymy

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A semantic relation that exists between a term denoting a whole (the holonym) and a term denoting a part that pertains to the whole (the meronym). uncountable

    "The relation between the terms ‘foot’ and ‘heel’ is that of holonymy, since one of the parts of a foot is a heel."

  2. 2
    the semantic relation that holds between a whole and its parts wordnet
  3. 3
    The quality or nature of being the whole in a holonymous relation. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
whole to part relation

Example

More examples

"The relation between the terms ‘foot’ and ‘heel’ is that of holonymy, since one of the parts of a foot is a heel."

Etymology

From holo- + -onymy (compare Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”), ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”)).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.