Dominant group/Synonymous definition

A synonymous definition is a definition “defining a single word [or symbol] by giving another single word [or symbol] which has the same meaning.” But, synonymous definitions have limitations:
 * 1) “some words have no exact synonyms” ,
 * 2) a synonymous definition “cannot be used in the construction of precising or theoretical definitions.”, and
 * 3) no synonym should appear in the definiens of a genus–differentia definition.

In addition to composing relative synonyms for the two-word term dominant group, there is the testing of synonymy for these relative synonyms. Some relative synonyms may have achieved far greater popularity than dominant group and perhaps thereby have precising definitions somewhat different from the more general definition of a dominant group.

There is also the possibility that dominant group is not the original stem term but a more recent relative synonym of that stem term. The evolution of the concept behind dominant group may have been substantial.

Control group hypothesis
A dominant group [of humans] may prefer that subordinate groups, slaves (or representatives of same) be used as members of a treatment group to test a possible new treatment so that the lives or wants of the dominant group are not in jeopardy, especially where failure is a significant possibility.

As the purpose of a treatment group appears to be for testing a potentially beneficial change, an initial control group is probably preferred to be an ancient dominant group.

Dominant group
The two-word term dominant group has a large variety of synonyms with the oldest so far discovered being classicus, referring to the patrician class of ancient Rome.

"From that constatation which is similar to the constatation that the human rights system expresses the views of the dominant group, Kymlicka concludes the need for cultural accommodation." Bold added.

Examples from primary sources are to be used to prove or disprove each hypothesis. These can be collected per subject or in general.


 * 1) Accident hypothesis: dominant group is an accident of whatever processes are operating.
 * 2) Artifact hypothesis: dominant group may be an artifact of human endeavor or may have preceded humanity.
 * 3) Association hypothesis: dominant group is associated in some way with the original research.
 * 4) Bad group hypothesis: dominant group is the group that engages in discrimination, abuse, punishment, and additional criminal activity against other groups. It often has an unfair advantage and uses it to express monopolistic practices.
 * 5) Control group hypothesis: there is a control group that can be used to study dominant group.
 * 6) Entity hypothesis: dominant group is an entity within each field where a primary author of original research uses the term.
 * 7) Evolution hypothesis: dominant group is a product of evolutionary processes, such groups are the evolutionary process, produce evolutionary processes, or are independent of evolutionary processes.
 * 8) Identifier hypothesis: dominant group is an identifier used by primary source authors of original research to identify an observation in the process of analysis.
 * 9) Importance hypothesis: dominant group signifies original research results that usually need to be explained by theory and interpretation of experiments.
 * 10) Indicator hypothesis: dominant group may be an indicator of something as yet not understood by the primary author of original research.
 * 11) Influence hypothesis: dominant group is included in a primary source article containing original research to indicate influence or an influential phenomenon.
 * 12) Interest hypothesis: dominant group is a theoretical entity used by scholarly authors of primary sources for phenomena of interest.
 * 13) Metadefinition hypothesis: all uses of dominant group by all primary source authors of original research are included in the metadefinition for dominant group.
 * 14) Null hypothesis: there is no significant or special meaning of dominant group in any sentence or figure caption in any refereed journal article.
 * 15) Object hypothesis: dominant group is an object within each field where a primary author of original research uses the term.
 * 16) Obvious hypothesis: the only meaning of dominant group is the one found in Mosby's Medical Dictionary.
 * 17) Original research hypothesis: dominant group is included in a primary source article by the author to indicate that the article contains original research.
 * 18) Primordial hypothesis: dominant group is a primordial concept inherent to humans such that every language or other form of communication no matter how old or whether extinct, on the verge of extinction, or not, has at least a synonym for dominant group.
 * 19) Purpose hypothesis: dominant group is written into articles by authors for a purpose.
 * 20) Regional hypothesis: dominant group, when it occurs, is only a manifestation of the limitations within a region. Variation of those limitations may result in the loss of a dominant group with the eventual appearance of a new one or none at all.
 * 21) Source hypothesis: dominant group is a source within each field where a primary author of original research uses the term.
 * 22) Term hypothesis: dominant group is a significant term that may require a 'rigorous definition' or application and verification of an empirical definition.

Synonyms
"Synonyms can be any part of speech (such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions), as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech."

Synonymous definitions
Def. "a method in which another word is provided having the same general sense as the definiendum and with which the learner is already familiar"

"This is the commonest method of definition used in dictionaries."

"[D]efinitions (ideally) provide semantic clarity, clarifying ambiguous and vague terms and, hence, mitigating terminological confusion, a critical imperative particularly in combined or multinational (and multilingual) military operations."

""[S]cience requires universal agreement...on the inferences that can be drawn from those terms when they are combined into propositions. Safe and agreed inferences are possible only with precise and unambiguous terms" (Robinson 1950: 70)."

"If the lexicographer defines the verb harm as cause harm to, he refers to a word the user of the dictionary is assumed to know, even if it is the same lexeme, and this corresponds to Robinson's definition of synonymous definition."

"A synonymous definition employing less familiar words definitely fails to meet one of the important principles of good defining, ie —The definition /.../ must answer the question, —what is it?,“ directly and immediately“ (Landau 2001: 162)."

Def. "one in which the definiens is a single word having the same meaning as the definiendum" is called a synonymous definition.

Recent history
The recent history period dates from around 1,000 b2k to present.

From JSTOR, url=http://www.jstor.org, the earliest occurrence in an article of the above and other words of interest are

Dominants
Synonyms for “dominant” together with their category of most common usage are where the categories 36, 171, 462, 670, and 739, and words "note", "music", "chief", "influential", "most important", and "ruling" are actually listed.

The overlap in synonymy between “majority” and “dominant” is categories 36 and 747. Although many of the others could be used in description to construct stipulative definitions.

In Mosby's Medical Dictionary definition that a dominant group is "a social group that controls the value system and rewards in a particular society." is a synonym for "ruling": "controls", which is a verb form of "controlling". Although this synonym is absent from "need not be a numerical majority (although it often will be)." , there is the question of what's defining a dominant group when it's not the majority?

Both the current lexical definition and some as yet unfound earlier lexical definition from which the current one may have been precised appear to have problems. Both problems are matters of synonymy. The most common usage of "dominant" and thereby the most likely category to find the closest synonyms to exact synonyms is in category "171. INFLUENCE". For "majority" this is category "100. PLURALITY". The further away from exact synonymy the category is, the less exact relatively is the synonymy. This suggests that terms outside category 171 may be okay for lexical definitions as the one in Mosby's Medical Dictionary of dominant group using "controls". The same for some earlier unfound lexical definition using "majority", category 100.

This degree of relative synonymy also allows an answer to "what's defining a dominant group when it's not the majority?" An answer is in the synonyms for "majority", especially in category 100, but especially not in categories 36 or 747 because of the overlap in relative synonymy. Yet, here again both categories 36 and 747 are relatively away from categories 100 and 171 in meaning. These could be used in precising or theoretical definitions.

With relative synonymy instead of exact synonymy, relative synonyms may be useable in a genus–differentia definition.

Groups
This same approach of relative synonymy should be applied to the word "group". Although use within dominant group suggests that "group" is a noun, "group" can be used as a verb.

Relative synonyms
With a two-word term, genus classes (or categories ) may consist of three varieties:
 * 1) category1 + category2,
 * 2) "dominant" + category2, or
 * 3) category1 + "group".

Here "category1" refers to any category of relative synonyms for "dominant" (adjective or noun), and "category2" is the same for "group" (noun or verb).

The added possibilities of "group" as a verb suggests usages like "dominantly grouped", with the adverb "dominantly", or "dominant grouping".

These variations in part due to analyzing a two-word term allow additional possibilities to consider in forming genus differentia definitions.

The term dominant group appears to be used to identify entities of importance. The genera differentia for possible definitions of dominant group fall into the following set of orderable pairs:

'Orderable' means that any synonym from within the first category can be ordered with any synonym from the second category to form an alternate term for dominant group; for example, "superior class", "influential sect", "master assembly", "most important group", and "dominant painting". "Dominant" falls into category 171. "Group" is in category 61. Further, any word which has its most or much more common usage within these categories may also form an alternate term, such as "ruling group", where "ruling" has its most common usage in category 739, or "dominant party", where "party" is in category 74. "Taxon" or "taxa" are like "species" in category 61. "Society" is in category 786 so there is a "dominant society".

"A related, but separate, definition relies on a linguistic identity that differs from that of the dominant society [5]."

Classicus
The most common use for classicus found (3/15/15) on Google Scholar and Google Web is as part of locus classicus, or a type locality.

Master class
Def. "a small class for advanced students, especially a class in performance skills conducted by a distinguished musician" is called a master class.

Def. "a class (especially in music) given to talented students by an expert" is called a master class.

Def. "[a] class, typically in a performing art such as music or drama, in which a teacher listens to and critiques the performance of individual students, one at a time, while the other students look on" is called a master class.

Upper class
Def. "a class of people above the middle class, having the highest social rank or standing based on wealth, family connections, and the like" is called an upper class.

Def. "the class occupying the highest position in the social hierarchy, esp the wealthy or the aristocracy" is called an upper class in Sociology.

Def.
 * 1) "those people at the top of a social hierarchy" or
 * 2) "the aristocracy"

are called an upper class.

Hypotheses

 * 1) The earliest concept behind dominant group in humans is the group allowed to have children.