The word **八月** (bā yuè), meaning "August" or "the eighth month," is formed through straightforward logical compounding: the numeral **八** (bā), meaning "eight," is combined with the noun **月** (yuè), meaning "month" or "moon." This follows the standard Chinese pattern for naming months, where the cardinal number is placed before "月" to sequentially denote the order of months in the lunar or Gregorian calendar, thus "the eighth month."