The Chinese word 占卜 (zhānbǔ), meaning "divination" or "to practice divination," is a classic example of a binome or compound word formed by combining two semantically related and often interchangeable characters. The first character, 占 (zhān), originally depicted cracks on oracle bones and means "to divine" or "to prognosticate." The second character, 卜 (bǔ), is a pictograph of the cracks themselves and specifically refers to the practice of pyromancy, the act of applying heat to bones or shells to produce prophetic cracks. Together, these two characters form a cohesive, coordinated compound where each reinforces the other, collectively denoting the ancient practice and art of seeking knowledge of the future through supernatural means, most famously associated with the Shang Dynasty oracle bones.