The term 名模 (míngmó) is a compound word formed by combining the character 名 (míng), meaning "famous" or "renowned," with the abbreviated form of 模特 (mótè), meaning "model." The character 模 (mó) is taken from the first syllable of the loanword "model" and here serves as a shorthand for the full term. Therefore, the word is constructed through a process of semantic compounding, where 名 modifies 模 to specify the type of model, directly and efficiently creating the meaning "famous model" or "supermodel."