A bahuvrihi compound is a type of compound

Compound (linguistics)

In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes...

 that denotes a referent by specifying a certain characteristic or quality the referent possesses. A bahuvrihi is exocentric, so that the compound is not a hyponym of its head

Head (linguistics)

In linguistics, the head is the word that determines the syntactic type of the phrase of which it is a member, or analogously the stem that determines the semantic category of a compound of which it is a component. The other elements modify the head....

. For instance, a sabretooth

Saber-toothed cat

Saber-toothed cat or Sabre-toothed cat refers to the extinct subfamilies of Machairodontinae , Barbourofelidae , and Nimravidae as well as two families related to marsupials that were found worldwide from the Eocene Epoch to the end of the Pleistocene Epoch ,...

 (smil-odon

Smilodon

Smilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...

) is neither a sabre

Sabre

The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

 nor a tooth

Tooth

Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...

, but a feline with saber-like teeth.

The term bahuvrihi was first used by Sanskrit grammarians, and is a specific Sanskrit example: a compound consisting of bahu (much) and vrihi (rice); the compound denotes a rich man, one who has "much rice".

In Sanskrit bahuvrihis, the last constituent is a noun, more strictly, a nominal stem, while the whole compound is an adjective. The accent

Vedic accent

The tone accent of Vedic Sanskrit, or Vedic accent for brevity, is traditionally divided by Sanskrit grammarians into three qualities, udātta "raised" , anudātta "not raised" and svarita "sounded" .-The accents:Udātta marks the place of the inherited PIE accent...

 is regularly on the first member (tatpurusha rāja-pútra "a king's son", but bahuvrihi rājá-putra "having kings as sons" (viz rājá-putra- (m.) "father of kings", rājá-putrā- (f.) "mother of kings"), with the exception of a number of non-nominal prefixes such as the privative a

Privative a

In Ancient Greek grammar, privative a is the prefix a-  that expresses negation or absence . It is derived from a Proto-Indo-European syllabic nasal *, the zero ablaut grade of the negation *ne, i.e. /n/ used as a vowel...

; the word "bahuvrīhí" is itself likewise an exception to this rule.

In English bahuvrihis, the last constituent is usually a noun, while the whole compound is a noun or an adjective. Accent is on the first constituent. English bahuvrihis often describe people using synecdoche

Synecdoche

Synecdoche , meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech in which a term is used in one of the following ways:* Part of something is used to refer to the whole thing , or...

: flatfoot, half-wit, highbrow, lowlife, redhead, tenderfoot, longlegs, and white-collar.

Examples

• "Houndstooth
  Houndstooth
  Houndstooth, houndstooth check or hound's tooth , also known as dogstooth, dogtooth or dog's tooth, is a duotone textile pattern characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes, often in black and white, although other colours are used...
  
  ", a woven fabric with a patterns resembling a canine tooth: "She's wearing a houndstooth jacket"
• "Old Money
  Old Money
  Old money is "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families " or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth." The term typically describes a class of the super-rich, who have been able to maintain their wealth across multiple generations.- United States :American locations...
  
  ", members from established upper-class who have usually inherited their wealth: "He's definitely Old Money"
• "Bluestocking
  Bluestocking
  A bluestocking is an educated, intellectual woman. Until the late 18th century, the term had referred to learned people of both sexes. However it subsequently was applied primarily to intellectual women, and the French equivalent bas bleu had a similar connotation. The term later developed...
  
  ", an educated, intellectual or artistically accomplished woman: "Auntie Maud will never marry, she's a Bluestocking"
• "Hunchback
  Hunchback
  Hunchback may refer to one of the following.*A derogatory term for a person who has severe kyphosis*The Hunchback of Notre Dame*Hunchback , an arcade and computer game from the 1980s*The Hunchback, a 1914 film featuring Lillian Gish...
  
  ", someone with a deformed, hunch-like back: "Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre-Dame, was a hunchback."