The Chinese word 体操 (tǐcāo), meaning "gymnastics" or "physical exercises", is a compound noun formed through semantic combination. It consists of two characters: 体 (tǐ), which means "body", and 操 (cāo), which means "to drill", "to exercise", or "to operate". Together, they literally convey the concept of "body drilling" or "physical exercise", precisely describing the systematic training and maneuvers performed to develop strength, agility, and coordination. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two independent, meaningful characters are combined to create a new, more specific term whose meaning is derived from the sum of its parts.