The word 作家 is formed by combining two characters: 作, which means "to make" or "to create", and 家, which denotes a specialist, professional, or master of a particular field. Together, they conceptually merge the act of creation with the status of a professional, visually and semantically synthesizing the idea of a "creator-specialist", which specifically refers to a writer or author. It is a direct compound where the second character categorizes the person by the activity denoted by the first.