1. A compound word in which the combination of elements refers to something outside the compound itself, rather than to the meaning of its parts; a possessive or exocentric compound.
Usage: linguistics; grammar; from Sanskrit

Examples

• In English, 'redhead' is a bahuvrihi compound because it refers to a person with red hair, not to something that is both red and a head.
• The word 'blackboard' is traditionally considered a bahuvrihi since it originally referred to a board that is black, not a type of board called 'black.'
• Linguists use the term bahuvrihi to describe compounds like 'flatfoot,' which denotes a person with flat feet rather than a foot that is flat.
• The Sanskrit term bahuvrihi literally means 'much rice' and exemplifies the compound type it names.
• In grammar classes, students learn that bahuvrihi compounds are exocentric, meaning their meaning extends beyond the sum of their parts.