Generic term, middle term and sub-term

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Preamble ( lat. Terminus maior , Greek. Πρώτος ὅρος [ Protos horos ]), medium term ( terminus medius , μέσος ὅρος [ mesos horos ]) and subordinate concept ( terminus minor , εσχατος ὅρος [ eschatos horos ]) are terms from syllogistics , one in 4th century BC Logical system established by Aristotle . Syllogistics examines the validity of syllogisms (arguments of a certain form, see picture). In a syllogism, a conclusion ( conclusion ) is drawn from two assumptions ( premises ) . Both the premises and the conclusion necessarily have the form of a categorical judgment - or in other words, they are statements of the form “all / some / no S are / is P”.

The terms appearing in a syllogism are called generic term, middle term and sub-term according to their place of occurrence. The following example shows the position of the individual terms in a syllogism:

All people [middle term] are mortal [generic term]. All Greeks [sub-term] are people [middle term]. So all Greeks [sub-term] are mortal [generic term].

The terms "overarching term" and "sub-term" have no meaning in terms of content; they simply stem from the traditional names of the two premises.