Word.ws English Dictionary

endonymy

endonymy noun: a relationship of semantic inclusion, such as that between "store" and "shopping mall".

Noun

endonymy (uncountable)

  1. A relationship of semantic inclusion, such as that between "store" and "shopping mall".
    • We can also briefly note that both a sense description of the type given above and the use of meaning postulates can be compared to the notion of endonymy, which was introduced by Cruse (1986: 123 f). It is intended to describe the relation between two lexical items when the meaning of one of them...1993, Christina Alm-Arvius, The English verb see: a study in multiple meaning, page 18
    • Evens et al. (1983) have a provenience relation (water/well), and Cruse (1986) has a proportional series relation made up of recurring endonymy (university/lecturer/student, prison/warden/convict, hospital/doctor/patient).2003, Jane Morris, Clare Beghtol, Graeme Hirst, Term relationships and their contribution to text semantics and information literacy through lexical cohesion
  2. The use of the name for a group or geographic region by its members or inhabitants, as opposed to the nomenclature used by outsiders.
    • Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (Brazil/Paris) analysed the comparative relation between exonymy and endonymy in lowland South America.2000 June, B Bodenhorn, G vom Bruck, “Processes of Naming”, in Anthropology Today, volume 16, number 3
    • As such, there arises a symbolic association between endonymy and the firstborn, and exonymy and the last-born, in keeping with the idea that the firstborn represents internal continuity and the last-born represents the transformation associated with exteriority. Indeed, in the practice of...2008, Tany˜xiwe's Journey: A Javae Theory of History, →ISBN, page 998

Examples of endonymy in a sentence

  • We can also briefly note that both a sense description of the type given above and the use of meaning postulates can be compared to the notion of endonymy, which was introduced by Cruse (1986: 123 f).1993, Christina Alm-Arvius, The English verb see: a study in multiple meaning, page 18:
  • Strictly speaking, endonymy is such a general meaning relation that it would cover hyponymy and certain part–whole relationships, e.g. finger and hand, as well as the kind of examples just listed.2011, Cliff Goddard, Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction, →ISBN, page 200:
  • First it will examine the etymologies of the various groups as products of Egyptian nomenclature (exonymy) or indigenous nomenclature (endonymy).2011, William Cooney, Egypt's encounter with the West: Race, Culture and Identity in Pacific Linguistics (thesis, Durham University):

Origin of endonymy

From endo- + -onymy.

Questions about endonymy

What does endonymy mean?
Endonymy means a relationship of semantic inclusion, such as that between "store" and "shopping mall".
How do you use endonymy in a sentence?
We can also briefly note that both a sense description of the type given above and the use of meaning postulates can be compared to the notion of endonymy, which was introduced by Cruse (1986: 123 f).
What part of speech is endonymy?
Endonymy is a noun.

Words near endonymy in the dictionary

  1. endonymic
  2. endonymically
  3. endonymous
  4. endonymously
  5. endonyms
  6. endonymy
  7. endonyx
  8. endoocular
  9. endooesophageal
  10. endoosmotic
  11. endopancreatic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: endonymy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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