The Chinese word 冬季 (dōngjì), meaning "winter", is a compound noun formed through the combination of two meaningful characters: 冬 (dōng), which stands alone to mean "winter", and 季 (jì), which means "season". It follows a common modifier-head structure in Chinese, where 冬 acts as the specific modifier describing the type of 季 (season), literally translating to "the season of winter". This formation is analogous to other seasonal terms like 春季 (spring) and 秋季 (autumn), creating a clear and logical semantic unit.