The word 处女 (chǔnǚ, meaning "virgin") is formed conceptually through the semantic combination of its two component characters: 处, which carries the ancient meaning "to dwell" or "to be in a state of", and 女, meaning "woman" or "female". Historically, it conceptually depicted a woman who "dwells in" or remains in her parental home, thereby implying she is unmarried and, by the traditional social and sexual norms embedded in the character's evolution, sexually untouched. Thus, the term is not a literal description but an ideographic construct where the state of dwelling (处) metaphorically defines the condition of the woman (女), evolving into a fixed term for female virginity.