The word 传闻 is formed by conceptually combining two actions: the first character 传 means "to transmit" or "to pass on", depicting the movement of something from one point to another, while the second character 闻 means "to hear" or "that which is heard". When placed together, they sequentially illustrate the process of a piece of information, originally something that was heard, being passed along from person to person. This fusion creates the holistic meaning of "hearsay" or "rumor", encapsulating the very nature of unverified information that travels through social transmission.