The Chinese word 外号 (wàihào), meaning "nickname", is a compound noun formed through semantic combination: the character 外 (wài) means "outside" or "external", and 号 (hào) means "name" or "title". Therefore, the term literally translates to "outside name", logically referring to an additional, unofficial name given to a person, often based on their characteristics, habits, or anecdotes, that exists outside of their formal given name. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two meaningful characters are combined to create a new, conceptually clear word.