stocking vs hosiery

stocking and hosiery both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
stocking	Yes	No	No	No
hosiery	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, hosiery is a hypernym of stocking; that is, hosiery is a word with a broader meaning than stocking:

stocking: close-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg; come in matched pairs (usually used in the plural)
hosiery: socks and stockings and tights collectively (the British include underwear)

Other hypernyms of stocking include hose.

stocking (noun)	hosiery (noun)
the activity of supplying a stock of something	socks and stockings and tights collectively (the British include underwear)
close-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg; come in matched pairs (usually used in the plural)