Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Rank Lexical Relation

Definition: 

A rank lexical relation is an association between lexical units which have different relative values based on some shared underlying semantic property.

Discussion: 

Lexical units which are related by rank are likely to be functionally descriptive of the characteristics of an entity. They are likely to be lexical categorized as nouns.

Examples: 

(English)

  • {private, corporal, sergeant, general}
  • {Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2,…}
  • {priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, pope}

 

Underlying structure
 

A rank set has the structure of a scale.

 
See:

What is a lexical relation with a scale structure for other examples of similar lexical relations in English.

 
Source: 
Additional Information: 

Underlying structure

A rank set has the structure of a scale.