The word 作战 is formed through the conceptual fusion of two independent characters: 作 (zuò), which carries the meaning "to make", "to do", or "to engage in", and 战 (zhàn), which means "war", "battle", or "to fight". They are combined not merely by placing meanings side-by-side, but by creating a new, integrated concept where 作 provides the sense of active execution or initiation, and 战 defines the specific domain or nature of that action. Together, they conceptually merge into the single idea of "conducting battle" or "engaging in combat operations", forming a unified term for a military action.