The word 之外 is formed by combining two characters: 之, an ancient grammatical particle that functions like "of" or a possessive link, and 外, which means "outside" or "exterior". Literally, it constructs the spatial concept of "the outside of (something)", where 之 points to a previously mentioned entity or concept, and 外 defines the relational area beyond its boundaries. Thus, its formation is fundamentally about creating a compound that expresses an exterior realm in relation to a specific reference point.