A
bahuvrihi compound (from
Sanskrit बहुव्रीहि,
bahuvrīhi, literally meaning "much rice" but denoting a rich man) is a type of
compound 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. For instance, a
sabretooth (
smil-odon) is neither a
sabre nor a
tooth, but a feline with sabre-like teeth.