The term **人道主义** (réndào zhǔyì), meaning "humanitarianism" or "humanism," is a modern Chinese compound formed through lexical compounding, where two existing words are merged to create a new concept. The first component, **人道** (réndào), literally "the way of humans," is a classical term denoting human ethics, benevolence, and compassionate treatment. The second component, **主义** (zhǔyì), is a suffix meaning "-ism," denoting a principle, doctrine, or organized system of thought. Thus, the compound semantically extends "humanity/compassion" (人道) into a formalized ideological system or doctrine (主义), effectively translating the Western concept of "humanism" or "humanitarianism" by framing it as a structured ethical philosophy centered on human dignity and welfare.