The word 埋葬 is formed by combining two characters that each independently convey burial-related concepts to create a more specific, formal term for interment. The first character, 埋, means "to bury" and is itself pictographically composed of 土 (soil) and 里 (inside), visually depicting the act of placing something within the earth. The second character, 葬, represents a funerary scene, historically depicting a body (originally symbolized as 死, death) laid upon a base or within a coffin, flanked by grass (艸) above and below, with some interpretations including hands (廾) lowering it. Together, they form a compound where the second character intensifies and ritualizes the basic action of the first, moving from the simple act of covering with soil to the complete, ceremonial process of laying the dead to rest.