bahuvrihi

Syllables: ba·hu·vri·hi/bahuːˈvɹiːhi/

bahuvrihi noun: a type of nominal compound in which the first part modifies the second but neither part alone conveys the intended meaning.

Noun (1)

bahuvrihi (plural bahuvrihis)

(also, attributive) A type of nominal compound in which the first part modifies the second but neither part alone conveys the intended meaning.
- Considerable discrepancies prevail with regard to the word मूचिीः which the Calcutta edition and all the authorities except the Bombay copy and No. VI. read without the visarga. It has subsequently been inserted in Mr. [Charles] Wilkins' ms., and is clearly required by the sense, as तोजोमूचिीः is a...1825, [Svayambhuva Manu], “[Notes.] Chap. III.”, in Graves Chamney Haughton, editor, Mánava-Dherma-Sástra; or The Institutes of Menu, volume I (Sanscrit Text), London: Printed by Cox and Baylis...
- The drift of this paribâshâ, as Patañjali explains it, is to show that Bahuvrîhi compounds (in English comparable to adjective compounds like lightfoot—i.e. one who possesses light feet,—or blueeye-d, &c.) are of two kinds, the one expressing a quality or an attribute which is essential, and the...1870 June 8, Th[eodor] Goldstücker, “Appendix to Page 18”, in On the Deficiencies in the Present Administration of Hindu Law; being a Paper Read at the Meeting of the East India Association on the...

Bahuvrihi (plural Bahuvrihis)

It has subsequently been inserted in Mr. [Charles] Wilkins' ms., and is clearly required by the sense, as तोजोमूचिीः is a bahuvrihi or compound epithet.1825, [Svayambhuva Manu], “[Notes.] Chap. III.”, in Graves Chamney Haughton, editor, Mánava-Dherma-Sástra; or The Institutes of Menu...
It would therefore not be surprising if unambiguous bahuvrihi morphology were to be used occasionally in a governing compound.1986, Alan J[effrey] Nussbaum, Head and Horn in Indo-European (Untersuchungen zur indogermanischen Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft [Studies...
At the same time, none of the extended adjectival bahuvrihis has its linear counterpart in either poem.1997, Prague Studies in English (Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Philologica), volume XXII, Prague: Universita Karlova, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16:
Thus, bahuvrihi compounds have some kind of an identifying function.2006, Réka Benczes, Creative Compounding in English: The Semantics of Metaphorical and Metonymical Noun-Noun Combinations (Human Cognitive...

Transliteration of Sanskrit बहुव्रीहि (bahuvrīhi, “rich, wealthy”, literally “(possessing) much rice”), itself an example of a bahuvrihi.

What does bahuvrihi mean?: Bahuvrihi means a type of nominal compound in which the first part modifies the second but neither part alone conveys the intended meaning.
What is bahuvrihi in Hindi?: Bahuvrihi in Hindi is बहुव्रीहि (bahuvrīhi). See Bahuvrihi meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bahuvrihi in a sentence?: It has subsequently been inserted in Mr. [Charles] Wilkins' ms., and is clearly required by the sense, as तोजोमूचिीः is a bahuvrihi or compound epithet.
What part of speech is bahuvrihi?: Bahuvrihi is a noun.
How do you pronounce bahuvrihi?: Bahuvrihi is pronounced /bahuːˈvɹiːhi/ (UK).
What is the plural of bahuvrihi?: The plural of bahuvrihi is bahuvrihis.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bahuvrihi (page history and authors); Bahuvrihi (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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