The Chinese word 地雷 (dìléi), meaning "landmine", is a semantic compound formed by combining two meaningful characters: 地 (dì), meaning "earth" or "ground", and 雷 (léi), meaning "thunder". It functions as a metaphorical compound, where the explosive device is conceptually described as a "thunder (that is hidden) in the ground". This formation is typical of Chinese, where new terms are often created by logically combining existing root words to evoke the essence or function of an object, in this case, an explosive buried in the earth that erupts with thunderous force.