The Chinese word for "eighty," 八十 (bā shí), is formed through a straightforward multiplicative principle common to the Chinese numbering system. It directly combines the character for "eight" (八, bā) with the character for "ten" (十, shí), where the first numeral multiplies the second, literally meaning "eight tens." This structure is consistent for all multiples of ten (e.g., 三十 for thirty, 七十 for seventy) and stands in contrast to languages like English, which often use unique lexical forms (e.g., "eighty") rather than a transparent compositional rule.