The Chinese word **后天 (hòutiān)**, meaning "the day after tomorrow," is formed through a logical and sequential compounding of its two constituent characters: **后 (hòu)**, which means "after" or "behind," and **天 (tiān)**, which means "day" or "sky." When combined, they create a literal meaning of "the day after [today/tomorrow]," where 天 refers to a day-unit and 后 positions it sequentially after the current point of reference (today). This structure is analogous to other temporal words in Chinese, such as 前天 (qiántiān, "the day before yesterday"), where 前 (qián) means "before." Thus, 后天 exemplifies how Chinese often forms abstract temporal concepts by spatially orienting concrete nouns.