The Chinese word 午餐 (wǔcān), meaning "lunch", is formed by logically combining two meaningful characters: 午 (wǔ), which signifies "noon" or the period of the day from 11 am to 1 pm, and 餐 (cān), which means "meal" or "to eat". It is a straightforward, concept-driven compound where the first character specifies the time of day and the second character specifies the activity or object, directly creating the idea of "the midday meal". This method of formation is common in Chinese for creating clear, descriptive terms for daily routines and objects.