üldterm

üldterm is a term used in terminology management and linguistic analysis to refer to a broad label that encompasses several more specific terms. It functions as an umbrella term or hypernym within a taxonomy, glossary, or ontology, allowing speakers to refer to a broad category before specifying subcategories.

The form üldterm combines the Estonian prefix üld- meaning general or universal with term (borrowed from English). In Estonian-language texts, it is used to discuss high-level categorization rather than as a fixed label in a formal classification system.

In practice, üldterm is used to simplify communication, index content, or structure knowledge bases. It can aid search and retrieval by grouping related items, but its breadth can reduce precision if not further subdivided.

Examples of umbrella terms include transport (covering car, bus, bicycle, train), food (fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy), or software (operating systems, applications, libraries). In Estonian texts, these might be described as üldtermid that require more specific terms for exact identification.